Fallen Eternia
by Fizzleup
Summary: Teela left Eternia five years ago in shame for failing as Adam's bodyguard. She has now returned to find Eternia conquered and must see if the Defenders escaped, died, or suffered a fate worst than death.
1. Default Chapter

Fallen Eternia

"Home sweet home," muttered Teela as she dropped her backpack.  She had just stepped off a small spacecraft that looked a bit banged up to say the least.  It's been five years since she left this planet she had considered her home.  Five years ago she gave it all up.  Home, friends, and rank in order to… to find her way.  Or at least that's what she kept telling herself.  Though now older and more jaded, she knew the truth.  She ran away to try to escape the shame.  The shame of failing in her duties to Prince Adam.  And now here she was returning to Eternia.  

"So can I be going now lady?" asked a blue alien creature that was sitting at the cockpit of the spaceship.  He looked like a hybrid of man and elephant with a trunk that held the pilot stick.

"Yeah, thanks for the lift Farcon," said Teela as she waved to the alien.  Farcon simply grunted as he began to press buttons and pulled on the pilot stick.  Soon his spacecraft was lifting up into the sky and blasted away.

"Well no going back now," whispered Teela.  Spaceships weren't a common thing in Eternia last time Teela checked.  The only reason she had been able to get off the planet was because she used the Queen's old spaceship that had been rebuilt.  She could still remember the Queen's words when she asked to use the ship to leave.

Teela you failed to be there to protect my son and today he was almost killed.  I.. don't want to hate you for that, but I find it difficult not to.  Take my spaceship if you wish and leave.  Make another life for yourself somewhere else.

"Some life," said Teela as she walked through the forest from where the ship landed.  Teela had done at least a dozen odd jobs from working on cargo ships to being part of a security force on a spacestation in the last five years.  She had various trinkets, some souvenirs, and a few coins in her backpack, which was about the equivalent of her possessions.  She had spent almost every penny she owned to get back here.  

"And why I decided to come back here I'll never know," said Teela as she tried to estimate how long it would take to get to the palace.

"Are you talking to yourself again babe?"

The gruff voice had come from her backpack.

"No I just felt like making conversation with the trees.  Now get out of my backpack.  Your beer belly must be adding twenty more pounds alone Obbo," said Teela as she shook her backpack.

"Hey its all muscle babe," said Obbo as he crawled out.  One look at him and you could tell he was part of Orko's race of small floating people hidden in clothing.  Only this guy was a bit fatter compared to Orko and he had the smell of alcohol.

"So where can I find a bar on this fucking planet?" asked Obbo as he unsteadily floated beside Teela.  He was probably the closest thing Teela had as a friend now.  An acoholic, dirty mouth, fatter Orko who most people couldn't stand.  Teela had first found him almost strangled by a bouncer because he couldn't pay for his beer tab.  When it was evident she wasn't going to kill him and would actually stop people from killing him, he stuck with her.  And she let him stay with her.  She wasn't sure whether it was because he reminded her of Orko or because she just didn't know how to get rid of the fat bastard.

"Hey you know your ass looks good from this angle."

Ok it was just because she didn't know how to get rid of him.  

"If I give you this canteen of ale will you shut up?" asked Teela as she drew out a canteen.  The little man's yellow eyes lit up and he eagerly grabbed it.

"Babe you're the best," said Obbo before taking a swing of the canteen.

"So they keep telling me," said Teela as she continued heading towards Eternia palace.  What she was going to do once she got there was another story.  Maybe she'd find a job in the city surrounding the palace.  Going to the palace itself was out of the question.  Everyone from Duncan to the King made it evident she wouldn't be welcomed there no matter how long she has been absent.  And that very fact once again brought up the question that was nagging at her.

"Why did I come back here?" asked Teela of herself once again.

"Closure," stated Obbo in a slurred voice.  As strange as it seemed considering he was getting incredibly drunk, he sounded wise when he said that single word.

"Don't go giving me advice that actually sounds good Obbo.  It would be too disturbing," said Teela and then wrinkled her nose.  The smell of ash was filling the air and as she continued to walk towards the Eternia palace she noticed the sky seemed darker.

"Something's wrong," muttered Teela as she drew closer to Eternia palace.  She had the ship land in the forest about an hour away from the palace.  But from the smell and stench it seemed like she was approaching a volcano.  Without another word she began jogging through the trees.  Obbo gave a feeble protest before flying after her.  With in a few minutes she noticed several trees cut down.  And soon she reached what seemed like the boundary of the forest.  Every tree before her had been cut down.  And the ground that was normally covered in grass was totally bare.

"This forest should have gone on at least another mile.  The King had never allowed these many trees to be cut down before," said Teela as she walked across the desolate land.

"Maybe he got tired of them blocking his view," joked Obbo as he lazily floated after her.  Even with the trees gone, hills still blocked her view of the palace.  She had to walk across two hills before the palace came into view.  Or at least the place where the palace used to be in view…

"Whoah," said Obbo simply.  The sight before him didn't match the cheery, sunny description Teela had given him on the ship.

The palace was still there only now it was a palace totally different from the one Teela remembered.  Instead of beautiful ivory towers, there were ugly giant chimneys that bellowed coal black smoke.  A moat made of glowing hot lava surrounded the palace.  But what really made Teela ill was that giant stone statue of Skeletor that was standing over the palace.  The city that surrounded the palace had a dense cloud of smog covering it.  And tall walls of stone surrounded the city to give it the effect of being a prison.

"Yo babe, what's the matter?" asked Obbo as he slapped Teela on the back.  Even in his drunk haze he couldn't miss the expression of pure horror on Teela's face.

"You remember when I told you about that Skeletor who wanted to conquer Eternia…"

"Yeah?"

"I think he just conquered Eternia."  
"Oh!  But this place will still have a bar right?"

Teela sighed and continued to gaze at the city.  There was a huge gate against the stonewall that surrounded the city.  It would certainly be guarded, but maybe she could figure out a way to get through.

And then what!?  Find Skeletor and slay him?  I need to find the others.  I need to make sure they're still alive.  Maybe Skeletor only took over the palace, but everyone escaped.

"Obbo I need you to cast an invisibility spell on us," said Teela.  Obbo took another swing of his canteen before responding.

"No prob!  Now you see us!  Now you don't!" sung Obbo as he raised his fingers and wiggled them.  As crazy as it sounded, Obbo was actually a very good wizard… when he was drunk.  When he was sober he couldn't even light a candle.  In fact the more alcohol he had, the stronger his spells seemed to get.  Teela didn't find the idea of someone being both drunk and powerful very comforting.

Zzzooommm!

True to his word though, they both became invisible.  Teela quickly grabbed onto Obbo's robe with some difficulty and then made a run for the gate.  There was no telling how long the spell would last.

"Wwwwwwhhhhheeeee!"

"Quite!" hissed Teela as she ran down the hill.  In five minutes she was at the iron gate.  Teela almost gasped with surprise.  She had expected it to be guarded by beasts controlled by Beastman or by some evil magical contraption.  But it was actually guarded by normal, human guards.  They wore heavy purple armor with a skull symbol on their chests and carried swords on their belts.  A voice could be heard bellowing from the other side.

"The Lady Evil-Lyn wishes to leave!  Open the gate!"

Admittedly it's been a while since Teela even heard the name Evil-Lyn, but she was pretty sure no one gave her the title 'Lady' back five years ago.  The guards before her grabbed the handles of the iron gate and pulled.  Teela swallowed as she backed up.  She gave a silent prayer hoping that Evil-Lyn wouldn't see through the invisibility spell.  A chariot came bursting forth, pulled by half a dozen jet-black horses.  Riding the chariot was Evil-Lyn, holding her magic staff.  She glanced towards Teela's way, but didn't stop as her chariot charged down the road.  

Teela didn't waste anytime as she dragged Obbo with her through the open gates.  The floating wizard burped once causing a few guards to look left and right.  They were able to get inside though and Teela found herself walking down the streets.  If seeing the city from afar made her ill, seeing it close up didn't help any.  There were beggars in rags at the corner of every street she came upon raising up tin cups and asking for coins.  The streets were filthy and a foul stench invaded Teela's scent of smell.  What depressed her most was the attitude she got from people walking the street.  They appeared depressed and slow as if the life had been drained from them.

When she spotted a dark alley she dashed inside.  It would be best if the invisibility spell didn't wear off in front of a lot of people.  After about five minutes Teela could once again see her own body.

"Look I'm sure you'll want to find some friends and chit chat about old times and such.  Why don't I go get wasted at a bar while you do that babe?" asked Obbo.  His voice didn't slur as much and it seemed the ale was losing its effect.  Teela found no reason to argue since the little drunk would probably only slow her down in her search for the Defenders and royal family.

"Fine, we're will you be?" asked Teela.  Admittedly this would be the perfect time to lose Obbo, but she just couldn't bring herself to leave the guy stranded in a city conquered by Skeletor.  Damn morals.

"The Whiplash Bar!  We passed by it," said Obbo.  Then he left the alley to get a giant pint of ale, which he considered his life source.

"Evil-Lyn in now Lady Evil-Lyn, Whiplash now had a bar named after him, and Skeletor has a giant statue over the palace.  This day just keeps getting better and better," muttered Teela as she headed out of the alleyway.  She was totally clueless as to how to go about her search.  All she knew was that she had to find out if the royal family and any of the Defenders, especially Duncan, were alive.  It was then that she noticed a huge crowd down the street.  Just for curiosity's sake she went over to the people.  They all had slips of paper and it appeared that they were part of one giant line.

"Excuse me, but what's with the crowd?" asked Teela as she tapped an old woman on the shoulder.  The old woman gave her a suspicious look obviously noticing Teela's strange clothes.  Evidently jacket, T-shirt, and pants weren't the norm here.

"It's the line for getting a seat at the gladiator pit.  To watch Many-faces fight," said the old woman and turned her attention back to the line.  Teela could only stare at the old woman in surprise.  Many-faces was alive and now a gladiator?  She had to get inside this gladiator pit.  She quickly stepped up behind the old woman.

"Hey no cutting," barked a huge man behind her who grabbed her roughly by the arm.  Quicker then the eye could see, Teela grabbed the man's write and twisted.  He gave a whimper as he found himself bending down towards her.  His whole arm probably felt like it was on fire now.  They both knew that if she just added a little bit more force, she could probably break that arm.

"Oh you're so right.  I should have asked your permission first.  Could I please cut in front of you?" asked Teela sweetly as she continued to hold his arm hostage.

"S..sure," stuttered the large man obviously taken by surprise.  Teela then spotted the slip of paper in his other hand.

"Oh mind if I take this too.  I forgot my ticket," said Teela as she continued using her 'caring' voice.  Without waiting for a response she grabbed the ticket with her other hand.  Hearing the man actually whimper again made Teela feel a stab of guilt.  She let go of the man who backed a step away from her.  He obviously never had to go up against someone with years of combat training.

"Here this should cover your troubles," said Teela with a sigh as she pulled out ten gold coins.  The man's eyes lit up as he was handed the coins.  That was the last of her money.  She was now officially broke.  Teela had to wait in the line for an hour before she was finally able to see the gladiator pit.  It was basically one giant hole in the ground with barred doors against its interior wall.  Seats were posted above the hole to give people a downward view.  Soon she handed her ticket to another one of those guards dressed in purple armor and took a seat.

One of the doors opened and a monster covered in blood red fur stepped out.  It was Beastman with a grin on his face as he walked to the center of the pit while carrying his whip.  Teela placed a hand over her backpack where she kept her plasma pistol.  She had given up using the sword and staff a long time ago in favor of a gun.  Swords and staves weren't realistic weapons to use when fighting in long metal corridors of a spaceship or spacestation.  She could probably blast Beastman's head off from this very seat, but of course she'd probably be killed before she even tried to escape.  Guards were at every exit, watching the crowd carefully.

"Now people, it is time for the show!  I present to you the gladiator who so far lived though every challenge I've given him!  I give you Many-faces!" roared Beastman as he cracked his whip.  Another door opened to show Many-faces who stepped outside.  At the moment he was wearing his green monster face.  When Beastman cracked the whip again, Many-faces raised his arms and roared.  The crowd erupted in cheering and clapping.  Teela felt nauseated as she watched these people cheer.  Had things gone so bad that they now cheer at seeing a Defender enslaved by Beastman?  It seemed that Skeletor had not only conquered Eternia, but also turned its people against the Defenders.

"Now watch as he fights his newest adversary!  The dreaded sea serpent!" roared Beastman as he gestured towards another door.  Once it opened, a giant snake-like creature slithered outside.  It opened its huge snout to reveal incredibly sharp fangs.  Many-faces bared his fangs and gave another roar before charging.  The serpent encircled Many-faces and the two were soon wrestling on the ground.

"MANY!  MANY!  MANY!"

Teela didn't join in the chant which got her a few odd looks, but she didn't care.  There was no way she was going to cheer for this.  Many-faces always enjoyed performing for people, but that didn't mean he'd want to be wrestling giant monsters for people's amusements.  It was obvious that Beastman was using his beast controlling powers to control Many-faces while he was in his monster form.  He did it before years ago when Teela was still a Defender.  But that time Many-faces was able to fight off Beastman's power.  Teela knew that if she could only talk to him she could break Beastman's dominance over him.    

Crack!

The sound of bone breaking could be heard.  Many-faces had gotten his hands right below the serpent's head and twisted it until he broke bone.  The serpent was now lying limply in his hands and with a snarl Many-faces threw it to the ground.

"As you can see Many-faces is a mighty warrior!  Does anyone here think they can defeat him?  One hundred gold coins to anyone willing to come down here and fight him!" shouted Beastman.  The whole audience was silent.  Evidently no one was crazy enough to take up the challenge even for such a large sum of gold.  Though it was possible that sometime before some poor guy was desperate enough for gold that they would take up the challenge and fight Many-faces.  It sent a chill down Teela's spine to think that maybe Many-faces might have actually killed a man over that challenge.  Trying not to think about that, she concentrated on the problem at hand.  She had to get in contact with Many-faces.  And right then and there she knew how.  She stood up from her chair and cleared her throat.

"I'll take a go at him!" shouted Teela.  She became very aware that every eye in the crowd now settled onto her.  Including Beastman whose jaw dropped from his mouth.  Teela found his expression so funny she almost laughed out loud right then.  Instead she walked down the row of seats and then down the stairs towards the pit.  Once she reached the pit she made a leap and did an impressive somersault as she landed before Beastman and Many-faces.  Some of the people whistled and clapped.  Beastman's expression of shock turned sinister as he gave Teela a glare.

"Well it looks like you finally came back.  Welcome back home Teela.  Like the changes Skeletor made here?" asked Beastman snidely as he raised his arms.

"I didn't come here to talk to you furry jack ass.  Many-faces do you recognize me?  Its me Teela," said Teela as she gazed into Many-faces crimson eyes.  The eyes look glazed over, but his lips parted as he tried to speak.

"T..teela?" whispered Many-faces hoarsely.  It seemed like it took an extreme amount of will just for him to say that one word.

"Enough of this!  Lets have some fun!  Kill him Many-faces," growled Beastman as he snapped his whip.  Teela had hoped that Many-faces wouldn't follow the command or at the very least pause before attacking, but instead he instantly charged.  Teela did another leap over Many-faces and back-flipped away from him.  She was definitely more agile and quicker, but if Many-faces ever got his hands on her she'd never break free of his grasp considering his incredible strength.

"Many-faces fight it!  You've done it before," said Teela.  She knew she sounded desperate as she said the words.

"I can't.. there's no point.. everyone's gone!" grunted Many-faces before charging again.  Teela once again leaped and this time Many-faces came within an inch of grabbing her leg.  He was predicting her evasion tactics.  She did two back-flips this time before speaking.

"I'm not gone Many-faces.  I'm here," said Teela as she tried to prepare herself for his next charge.  There was a good chance that he'd catch her with his next attack.

"You'll leave me like the rest of them!" roared Many-faces.  His green face held pain and lost that caused Teela to do something she hadn't planned on doing.  Instead of leaping away, she leaped towards him.  Many-faces was so surprised by the move that he stumbled and stopped.  Before he could do anything Teela had her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I won't leave you Many-faces, not this time.  I promise I'll never leave you again," whispered Teela as she hugged him tightly.  She could feel her eyes begin to water as the large body she held onto shuddered.  Many-faces placed his hands over her back.  Those hands could tear her apart as if she was made of paper.

"Teela…," growled Many-faces.  It had been five years since Teela cried and this was the first time she ever had that urge to do so again.  She shouldn't have to come back to Eternia to see this.  To see Many-faces turned into this killing machine.

"You're not a gladiator Many-faces, you're an actor.  Remember when we both we're in that play _To Fight Another Day_?" asked Teela as she finally lifted her head and gazed into his eyes again.  Even though he had the face of a monster, he appeared incredibly vulnerable as he stared at her with grief stricken eyes.

"Enough of this!  Finish her!" roared Beastman as he cracked his whip.

"I'm sorry," whispered Many-faces as he grabbed her neck.

Crack!

With a simple twist of her neck, everyone could hear the sound of bone breaking.  A broken neck was considered one of the more merciful ways to kill someone.  Many-faces clutched the body tightly as he stared down at the woman in his arms with sorrow.

The…end?  Not quite!  Love cliffhangers don't ya.


	2. Chapter 2

With the breaking of the neck the audience cheered and clapped.  It wasn't as strong a cheer though as with the death of the sea serpent.  A few of the people in the audience didn't clap at all, but simply stayed silent in their seats.  It looked like Teela made a few fans with her attempt at reaching Many-faces.

"That ends the show for today folks.  Come back tomorrow for more," shouted Beastman as he snapped his whip.  Then he turned his attention to Many-faces.

"Take her body inside while I inform Skeletor of her demise," said Beastman before walking to the door he had come from.  Many-faces didn't respond, but simply lifted up Teela easily in his arms and walked to the door he had come from.  Once through the doorway, the barred door closed.  Many-faces continued to carry Teela as he walked down a long corridor and made a turn.  Soon he was inside what was considered his quarters.  All that was there was a bed made out of hay and a closet.  Slowly Many-faces lowered his mouth to Teela's ear.

"Teela we're safe for now.  Yo..you're not dead right?" asked Many-faces as he nervously shook her.  A smile slowly crept onto Teela's lips as she opened her eyes.

"Of course not Many, whats wrong?  You're such a good actor you even fooled yourself?" asked Teela in a teasing tone.  She slid out of Many-faces arms while the actor looked extremely relieved.

"I wasn't sure if I got control of myself in time.  I was so close to doing what Beastman wanted Teela.  You're lucky to be alive," said Many-faces as he clenched his hands into fists.

"I'm lucky I decided I was going to eat cucumber sticks for lunch," said Teela as she removed three broken cucumber sticks from her sleeve.

"I remember that we used a large carrot to create the sound of a breaking neck in _To Fight Another Day_.  I'm just glad I was able to catch on to your plan," said Many-faces as he continued to gaze at her.  His staring was almost unnerving.

"Hey you didn't think I would go in there without a good plan did you?" asked Teela with a raised eyebrow.  Truth be told she didn't even think of faking her death until that second when she was hugging Many-faces.  No need for him to know that though. 

"Look at you Teela.  You grew up into a beautiful woman on me," said Many-faces with a grin that seemed friendly even with his fearsome features.  Teela was all of sudden conscious that she had grown a bit from the seventeen-year-old girl she once was.  She was now a few inches taller and other parts of her body had grown more ample and attractive.

"Yeah well it was bound to happen some day," said Teela shyly, "So why don't you switch to a human face then we'll break out of this place."  Many-faces grin instantly faded as he sat on his bed.

"My human and robot faces were destroyed Teela.  When Skeletors minions captured me, Tri-clops forced me to use my human and robot face with some device.  Then they… they scarred and mutilated them to the point that I could never use them again," growled Many-faces as he once again clenched his hands.  Teela simply stood there while not quite sure what to say.  Saying 'sorry you were tortured' seemed ridiculous.

"They destroyed my other faces so I would always have to play the role of the monster.  A monster that Beastman could control and make part of his freak show," said Many-faces.  He seemed totally defeated as he stared lifelessly at the ground.  With finally the ability to act on his own, it seemed he was drowning himself in his own grief.  Teela gently knelt down before Many-faces and placed her arms around his neck to give him a hug.  It seemed to work well back in the pit.

Teela didn't consider herself the best person to console someone.  She had just spent the last five years wandering the galaxy with no one to depend on, but herself.  It didn't exactly give her good experience at handling situations like this.

"Thank you Teela," muttered Many-faces.  He moved an arm around her waist and pulled her to his lap.  She could feel his hot breath on her neck, as he seemed to hold onto her body in a steel grip.

"You meant it when you said you won't leave me right?"

"Every word," said Teela as she turned to see his face.  He was grinning again as he lifted her up with him and placed her feet on the ground.

"We better leave before Beastman returns for your body.  I have some cloaks we can use to help us blend in," said Many-faces as he drew out two cloaks with hoods.  He quickly handed one to Teela and put on the other.

"So what problems will we have trying to get out of here?" asked Teela as she tried not to cough.  The cloak she was strapping on was extremely dusty and hadn't been used in a while.

"We simply go down the corridor and then up the stairs.  That will take us to the ground level of the city," said Many-faces.  

"Wait that's it?  No guards or locks we have to get through?" asked Teela.

"Oh is this too easy for you?" asked Many-faces in a teasing tone.  That teasing tone actually made Teela feel relieved.  He was starting to sound like the old Many she knew.

"I'm just wondering why he doesn't keep you more carefully watched?"

"Beastman had no need for guards and locks for me since he had me under his complete control.  I was under his control even when walking to these quarters to sleep and eat," said Many-faces with bitterness.  Teela silently cursed herself for reminding him of his recent suffering.

"Um shall we go?" asked Teela in a poor attempt to change the subject.  Many-faces did a bow and a dramatic gesture for her to lead.  Teela rolled her eyes, but opened the door.  She stepped out and began walking down the corridor.  At least a dozen doors were against the left and right wall.

"When we get out of here I want you to tell me how Skeletor conquered Eternia," said Teela while keeping a watchful eye for anyone coming towards them.  The need to know how Skeletor conquered Eternia had festered in her mind since she came here.

"Of course,"

"Wait a minute!  Are there any other Defenders being used as gladiators here?" asked Teela.  She stopped and felt Many-faces bump into her.

"No… well at least not unless you count Battle Cat."

"Battle Cat is here!?  Why didn't you say anything?  We need to go free him," said Teela as she turned to Many-faces.

"It wouldn't do any good Teela.  Beastman was never able to control Battle Cat, but he drove the tiger insane with blood lust by having him battle day after day.  Beastman had him fight so much during this last few years that I don't think Battle Cat can distinguish friend from foe anymore," said Many-faces.  He refused to look her in the eyes when he said those words.  Teela couldn't help, but get the feeling that he was hiding something from her.

"Well maybe he'll recognize me.  We have to try Many, which door is his?" asked Teela.  She wasn't just going to give up on the tiger.  She also wanted to ask if that meant He-Man was alive?  Was Duncan alive?  Was any other Defender alive?  But those questions had to wait until they were at a safer place.

"His in that room," said Many-faces as he pointed to a door on her left.  Teela quickly opened it before Many-faces could say another word.  There in an iron cage was He-Man's fearsome tiger Battle Cat.  He looked just as formidable as he had five years ago with his battle armor and impressive body.  And at the moment he had his yellow eyes set on Teela as a growl rumbled from his throat.  Teela slowly approached while holding up her hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Battle Cat its me Teela.  You remember me right?  The girl who was always looking for an excuse to hug He-Man," said Teela in a soft tone.  As she spoke softly the huge cat seemed to relax and soon she was within five feet of the cage.

Swish!

If Many-faces hadn't pulled her back, she'd literally have had her head clawed off by Battle Cat's huge razor sharp claw.  With a snarl Many-faces put a protective arm around Teela.

"Touch her again and I'll kill you Battle Cat," growled Many-faces and soon Battle Cat was returning his challenge with a snarl of his own.

"Many it's not his fault considering what Beastman did to him.  We just have to keep trying," said Teela.  She tried to pull from his grasp, but he wouldn't let go.

"It's no use Teela.  Look behind him and see what he had for dinner," said Many-faces in a resigned voice.

"What does that ha… oh by the Elders," whispered Teela as she spotted what was behind Battle Cat.  It was a corpse… a human corpse that had its leg chewed off.  Battle Cat was having a human corpse as a meal.  The man's face could be seen to have an expression of complete horror.  His throat had been torn apart as well.

Without a word Teela pushed herself away from Many-faces hard and ran to a corner of the room.  She leaned down as she felt the food rising from her stomach and spew from her mouth.  She was barely aware of the hand that stroked her back as she continued to throw up for another minute.    

Finally she was able to get her stomach under control and raised her head.  Many-faces stood there looking at her with pity and sorrow.

"You knew," whispered Teela in an accusing voice.  Many-faces flinched at that tone.

"I didn't want to tell you unless I absolutely had to.  You know when Beastman first forced him to fight humans he refused to kill them.  But Beastman kept sending them against Battle Cat and after a year he stopped sparing their lives and tore them to pieces.  Another year after that he began eating them after he killed them," said Many-faces.  Teela took a napkin out of her backpack and wiped her mouth.  She couldn't stop giving Battle Cat glances.

"What is that collar on his neck for him?" asked Teela as she put her napkin back in her backpack.

"It's a collar Tri-clops made to make sure Battle Cat never left the pit.  If he jumped out of the pit, the collar sent a large shock of electricity through him," said Many-faces.

"Right.. we should go," muttered Teela as she headed for the door.  She couldn't very well suggest they try to get the collar off.  Even if they succeeded at doing it unharmed, it would be pointless.  That would just give Battle Cat a chance to turn the audience who watched the pit into a meal.  The image of Battle Cat pouncing on people in the crowd and chewing on them almost made her sick again.

Once they were in the corridor, Teela wasted no time walking to the end of it.  And just as Many-faces said, there were some stairs that lead up to an unlocked door.  Teela quickly opened it and blinked a few times as bright sunlight filled her vision.  Finally her eyes adjusted and she stepped out onto the street before her.  They were back in the city streets of Eternia.

"What now?" said Many-faces as he pulled the hood of his cloak tightly over his head.  His face wasn't completely hidden, but you would have difficulty getting a good look at it.  

"We head to the Whiplash Bar then you tell me how Eternia turned into hell," said Teela as she pulled her own hood over her head.  The chances of her being recognized were slim, but there was still a chance.

"Whiplash Bar?"

"I figure its one of the last places Beastman would look for us in this city once he finds us gone," said Teela with a smile before heading there.  Most of the streets in the city had the same name before Skeletor took over.  So she had no difficulty returning to the alley she left Obbo at.  And from there she spotted the Whiplash Bar with a sign that had Whiplash's face on it.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Many-faces as he gave the sign a sour look.  Teela herself wasn't crazy about entering the place as well.

"I have a friend in here we have to get anyway," said Teela before entering.  You can always tell how good the lives of people are by the number of customers that was in a bar during the day.  If the number was low then that meant most people had jobs and could earn a living.  If the number was high then that meant there were few job and people were drowning their problems in ale.

"Excuse me, can I get through?" muttered Teela.  She squirmed her way into the crowd of people before her.  This bar had a very HIGH number of people in it.  Giving Teela a good clue of how many people had jobs in Eternia at the moment.

"Give the woman space."

The deep voice that cut through the room caused the crowd to instantly react.  Teela found people taking a few steps back from her while looking fearfully at Many-faces.  Even with his face hidden he was still an impressive sight with his large build and the way he cracked his knuckles.  Now that Teela had some space, she could see Obbo at the bar drinking a large mug of ale.

"Obbo!  Come over here!" shouted Teela.  Obbo waved back to her and with a grunt lifted his mug.  He floated over the people to her.  He held the mug as if it was his only child.

"Obbo this is Many-faces.  Many-faces may I introduce Obbo.  I met him during my travels away.  Try not to kill him even though you'll soon want to," said Teela.  Many-faces gave Obbo a nod while the little wizard studied the huge man.

"Boyfriend?" asked Obbo in a slurred voice as he turned his gaze back to Teela.  Teela rolled her eyes then looked around.

"We need a table to sit at," said Teela as she squinted her eyes.  It seemed hopeless to get a free table though in such a crowded place.

"Leave it to me," said Many-faces as he walked towards the nearest table.  Four men sat at the table playing cards.  Each one carried a knife on his belt and didn't look like he would hesitate to use it.  Many-faces approached the men who noticed him coming.  They pulled out their knives while giving him a challenging look.  Many-faces responded by stepping closer and lifting his hood.

"Move," growled Many-faces as he exposed his demon-like features to the men.  They quickly turned pale and got out of their seats.

"Thanks Many," said Teela with a smile.  Many-faces returned the smile and pulled out a chair for her.  Feeling slightly ridiculous, Teela sat in the chair and let Many-faces push it towards the table.  She couldn't remember the last time a man pulled out a chair for her.

"No offense Teela, but don't you think you can find a boyfriend that isn't as ugly?" asked Obbo as he took a seat.  Once again Obbo showed his ability to put himself in utter danger without even trying.  Teela could hear a low growl eminent from Many-faces as he took a seat as well.  

"Obbo please shut up and drink your ale.  Many I need you to tell me what happened?  And also whether the others are alive," said Teela.  Many-faces ceased his growling and turned to Teela.

"Well after you left things went as they normally did.  Skeletor would come up with some plan to enter Gray Skull or conquer Eternia and we'd stop him.  But then about a year after you left, something happened," said Many-faces.

"What?" asked Teela softly.

"It happened when we were battling them at the gates of Eternia Palace…"

With a roar Many-faces lifted Lockjaw and flung him onto the palace wall.  Hopefully that would knock him out.

Boom!

The explosion sent Many-faces flying and he grunted as he hit the stone floor hard.  He raised his head to find Skeletor flying on a griffon as he blasted people down below with his staff.  The magical blasts of pure energy caused massive explosions when they hit the ground.

Boom!  Boom!

"Get inside the palace," barked Duncan as he fired his canon towards Skeletor.  The griffin easily dodged Man-at-arm's shots, but it distracted Skeletor long enough for the Defenders to get inside the palace.

Many-faces and Ram Man closed the iron gates and held them firmly in place with their incredible strength.

"They're coming at us with everything they got," said Mekaneck as he held his injured arm where Tri-clops blasted him.

"We need He-Man," said Duncan as a pounding sound came from the iron gates.  They were attempting to break through.

~He-Man shall be there…~

The voice had come from nowhere and yet everywhere.  Most of the Defenders looked around nervously except for Duncan who appeared relieved.

"Sorceress do you know where He-Man is?" asked Duncan.

~I sense him, but cannot make contact with his mind.  I will go to him in person and make sure he comes to your aid.~

"Thank you Sorceress.  Ok people, we just have to hold them off until He-Man comes," said Duncan with new confidence.  The other Defenders nodded while feeling their spirits rise.

"And then…?" asked Teela while totally enthralled by the story.  Even Obbo had stopped drinking in favor of listening to Many-faces.

"We were able to hold the gate closed for another hour after that they broke in and we fought.  For four hours we battled with all our guards and even the King joining us in battle. But not one of us could go up against Skeletor with his blasted staff.  Finally we were defeated with Duncan being the last to fall.  He-Man never came," said Many-faces with bitterness.  Then he unexpectedly grabbed Obbo's mug and took a swing.

"Hey that's mine!" said Obbo as he began to whimper.  Teela waited until he put the mug down before asking her next question.

"What happened to the other Defenders and the royal family?" asked Teela.

"Skeletor had the King and Queen executed.  The only Defenders I know that are alive are Man-at-arms and He-Man.  Man-at-arms is now Tri-clops assistant and slave.  It's said that Skeletor has imprisoned He-Man at Snake Mountain," said Many-faces.  He said the word 'He-Man' with such hate that it made Teela shiver.

"I'm sure it wasn't his fault.  There must have been a good reason why he didn't come," said Teela.  She was slightly surprised at her own need to defend the man's honor.  She could remember how she had a crush on him back as a Defender.  She was over that though… at least she was pretty sure she was over it.  

"He should have been there Teela.  He was supposed to protect Eternia and he failed.  And we suffered for it," growled Many-faces.  His crimson eyes flashed anger that made Teela uncomfortable.  She put a hand on his shoulder.  He tensed up at first, but soon relaxed under her touch.  The anger from his eyes disappeared, but she knew it was only because he wasn't thinking of He-Man.  Suddenly another name popped into Teela's mind.

"What happened to Prince Adam?  Is he safe?" asked Teela as she tried to ignore the guilt that always came with saying that name.  She had tried for years to forget him and her failure to protect him.  

"Skeletor was never able to find him.  He could very well be alive, but where he is I don't have a clue.  You know he missed you very much after you left.  It was obvious to all of us," said Many-faces.  Teela drew her hand away from his shoulder and looked away.

"I.. you know of course how I failed him right?  How he almost got killed?" asked Teela.  Her voice grew a little shaky.

"I simply heard that you failed as his bodyguard, no details though.  If you don't want to talk about it then we won't," said Many-faces with concern.

"Yeah babe we can get wasted instead," said Obbo cheerfully.

Thump!

"Owie," moaned Obbo.  His mug had just been slammed into his own face.  He rubbed his face while muttering curses about green skinned monsters.  Teela couldn't stop the giggle that she gave off.  Many-faces gave her a grin as she finally turned to look at him.

"Thanks I needed that.  I guess it's about time I told someone exactly what happened.  Prince Adam and I were walking along the river…"

"Race you to the lake," shouted Teela before dashing ahead.  Adam didn't bother replying, but sprinted after her.  Cringer easily ran along side them.  In most of their time together Teela and Adam competed against each other in games and contests.  Rather it was a simple race or a game of fireball as long as she could remember they tried to out do the other.  And most of those times she won because she was willing to put in that extra effort.  That was Adam for you though, lazy and mellow as a prince comes.

Teela paused in her running and grabbed Adam.  Before Adam could protest she pulled them both behind a bush.  Cringer instantly followed and lay beside them.

"Hey wh-"

"Ssshh!  Lockjaw is up ahead," whispered Teela as she pointed down the river.  Adam slowly raised his head over the bush.  There was Lockjaw beside the river carrying a huge iron barrel.

"What's he doing?" whispered Adam as he watched Lockjaw set the barrel down.  Lockjaw lifted the top off the barrel and a greenish smoke escaped from the metal container.  After studying the barrel for a second, Teela was hit with the realization of what exactly Lockjaw planned to do.

"His going to pour what's in that barrel into the river that goes to Eternia Palace.  His going to poison the drinking water of the city," whispered Teela as she pulled out her staff.

"I'll go get he- whoah!"

Adam had attempted to crawl away, but was grabbed by Teela.

"Oh no you don't!  Look it's just him and no one else.  We can both take him.  You're not chickening out of this fight!" hissed Teela.  She had grown sick of seeing Adam run away from fight after fight.  Maybe if he were forced into a battle he would realize that he didn't have to run like a coward all the time.

"Well I guess since its just Lockjaw," said Adam as he returned to his position beside her.  Cringer looked absolutely terrified as he hid behind the bush with them.

"Don't worry I'll be doing most of the fighting.  You just back me up," said Teela as she got ready to charge.  Adam nodded and drew his sword.

"HEYA!" cried Teela as she leaped over the bush.  Lockjaw was just about to lift the barrel when he froze in surprise.  After executing a few flips and a beautiful somersault, Teela striked him from the air.  Lockjaw let go of the barrel and made a grunting sound of annoyance.  He raised his metal arm, which turned into a pair of large metal pincers.  He swiped at Teela and as she dodged she swung her staff against the back of his legs, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Good move Teela," said Adam with a grin as he raised his sword and prepared to join in.  He never saw the blast of energy that was shot at him until it was too late.  

Vvvvrrooommmm!

"Aaaggghhhh!

Adam's screams caused Teela to turn towards him.  He was lying on the ground with the back of shirt burned away.  The skin on his back was burned and scorched as well.  Tri-clops stepped out from behind a bush with a sinister smile.  Teela simply stood there frozen in horror, giving Lockjaw the perfect opportunity to knock her out from behind with a swipe of his hand. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Teela…  Teela wake up…."

Teela opened her eyes and quickly shut them again when the light caused her head to sting.

"Teela are you ok?"

She recognized the voice as belonging to her father.  Memories began to flood her mind of the recent battle and Prince Adam's injury.  Her eyes opened and she stood up.  The sudden movement caused a massive headache, which she ignored.

"Where's Adam?  Is he ok?" asked Teela.  She placed a hand over her bandaged head.  She appeared to be in the palace infirmary.  Duncan was in a chair seated right next to her.

"The healers are attending to Adam as we speak.  Both of you are lucky I sent Stratos to find you or neither one of you would probably be alive now.  What happened out there Teela?" asked Duncan.

"I would like to know that as well."

Both turned their heads to see King Randor enter.  Teela nearly felt like hiding under his gaze.  It was obvious he was not pleased.  He took a seat beside Duncan and crossed his arms.

"I wish for a full report now on why my son was almost killed Teela," said King Randor with an icy voice.  Teela wanted to ask how badly Adam was hurt, but knew better then to ask that now.  

"Well your majesty we were walking along the river…"

She stated only the facts and left nothing out.  She even admitted that it was her idea to try to ambush Lockjaw on their own.  After finishing her description of events, King Randor stroked his beard before speaking.

"Teela I'm not sure if you understand exactly the duties you have as Adam's bodyguard.  Could you state them for me?" asked King Randor.  It was more a command than a request.

"My foremost duty as Prince Adam's bodyguard is to look out for his safety over all others," said Teela.

"And how was attacking Lockjaw with Adam keeping him safe?" asked King Randor.  Teela could see the anger burning in his eyes and knew she had to answer carefully.

"I wanted him to get a taste of battle to help improve his fighting skills.  It seemed like the-"

"That is not your job Teela," interrupted King Randor.  Teela swallowed and stayed silent.

"It is not your job to decide when he is ready for battle.  Man-at-arms is his teacher and decides when his ready to fight.  You're job was to protect Adam.  And you failed at that job Teela," said King Randor.  His voice was rough with emotion and Teela knew one thing for certain.  Prince Adam was not ok if King Randor was this upset.

"How badly is he hurt?" asked Teela.  She couldn't hold back the question any longer.

"He suffered several burns on his back.  The healers believe that if he has an infection he may very well die.  My wife is at his bedside at the moment," said King Randor.

"May I see him?" asked Teela.  For a second Teela was certain he was going to say no, but perhaps he saw a bit of her own grief because he actually nodded.

"You may see him, but know that you are now relieved of your duties as Prince Adam's bodyguard.  From this day forward I will not trust my son's life in your hands.  Whether or not you shall remain a Defender is uncertain.  We shall discuss that later," said King Randor.  Teela felt so ashamed she wished she could crawl under her bed sheets and out of sight.  Duncan didn't speak until King Randor had left the infirmary.

"Teela what made you think to do that?" asked Duncan.  The disappointment in his voice was only helping to make her feel worst.  For the first time anger began to well up inside her.  Anger was usually what she grabbed onto when in frustrated situations.

"Look I really thought I was helping Adam!  I mean I thought that if I just got him to fight one of Skeletor's minions then it would make him a bit braver.  His always ran away like a coward wh-"

Slap!

It wasn't a hard slap.  In fact it only barely stung.  But it shocked Teela beyond belief that her stepfather struck her.  Never once had Duncan raised a hand against her since he had cared for her like a daughter.

"Teela, Adam is much braver then you give him credit for.  And you shouldn't call him a coward when his lying ill due to your mistakes," said Duncan.  Teela didn't respond, but instead swung her legs over the bed.  She shakily stood on her feet and began walking towards the exit.  Duncan looked at her back with regret, as he seemed to realize he might have gone too far.

"Teela… I'm sorry I did that, but I-"

"Its ok, I understand.  I'm sorry," said Teela as she continued to walk.  She didn't want to talk to Duncan anymore.  She had taken dose after dose of guilt, shame, and pain and she was reaching her limit.  She was glad Duncan couldn't see the tears streaming down her cheeks as she exit the infirmary.  She wiped her tears away as she walked down the hallway.  Teela tried to prepare herself for seeing the worst before opening the door to Adam's room.  

When Teela opened the door she found the Queen sitting in a chair beside Adam who appeared asleep.  He was lying on his stomach with his back exposed.  His tanned flesh was covered with burned marks, but also covered with an herbal ointment that would hopefully help heal him.  Teela could tell the Queen had been crying recently from the tearstains on her cheeks.  Teela didn't say anything, but simply grabbed another chair to sit beside Adam.  She looked into the Prince's face and wondered if he was awake when they treated him.  Wondered if he suffered extreme pains from his burns.

"So what will you do now?"

The question caught Teela by surprise and she raised her eyes to stare at the Queen.  What was she going to do now that she was no long Adam's bodyguard?  There was actually a good chance she would no longer be a Defender now as well due to her failure.  So what did that leave her with?  Becoming a court lady like the rest of the girls her age at the palace?  She could possibly find work to use her combat skills somewhere else in Eternia, but then there probably wouldn't be many who would hire someone who gained the King's disfavor.  The chances of making a successful career on Eternia looked slim.  For the first time her future seemed uncertain.

I wish I could just start over my life…

Suddenly she had an idea.  A crazy idea that would probably get her killed.  As she returned the Queen's gaze she remembered how the Queen came here on a spaceship.  One that the King had rebuilt.  She needed to find a way to make something of herself and she could never do that in Eternia now.  But maybe she could make something of herself out there in outer space.

"You're majesty, I wish to use your spaceship to leave Eternia.  Will you honor my request?" asked Teela in her most formal tone before bowing her head.  The Queen was now the one who appeared surprised.  She took a few minutes to think of her answer before responding.

"Teela you failed to be there to protect my son and today he was almost killed.  I.. don't want to hate you for that, but I find it difficult not to.  Take my spaceship if you wish and leave.  Make another life for yourself somewhere else."

"I left a note for Adam, saying how sorry I was for failing to protect him.  I guess I chickened out of waiting for him to gain consciousness.  I was too afraid he'd show the same disappointment that the King and Duncan showed.  I also left a note for Duncan saying my good-byes," said Teela.  Ever since that day, Teela never referred to Duncan as father.  It made the guilt less painful when she made sure to remind herself that he wasn't her real father.  Many-faces grabbed Obbo's mug again, but this time handed it over to Teela.

"You look like you need some of this," said Many-faces as he handed her the ale.  Teela gave him a smile.  She raised the mug to her lips and took a sip.

"Hey look!  Whiplash is coming!"

"Phew!"

"Hey you're supposed to drink it, not spray it!  Don't go wasting perfectly good ale," complained Obbo as he wiped his robe.  Teela didn't bother giving Obbo attention who now had ale spit onto his robes.  Instead her eyes went to the front door.  A man next to the front door was the one who spoke Whiplash's name.  Soon Whiplash's green lizardman body appeared at the doorway.  Cheers erupted from people at the bar.

"Drinks are on the house for the next hour!" shouted Whiplash as he walked in.

"Well the bar is named after him," said Many-faces with a sigh.  He tried to pull his hood even tighter over his face.

"I now officially feel dumber than Beastman.  I mean I didn't even think about the possibility that he would be here," muttered Teela as she turned her face away.  She just hoped that he wouldn't spot them.

"Hey whose that little, floating wizard over there?"

"Me?" asked Obbo as he floated a bit higher to give Whiplash a better view.  Teela had a very strong urge to grab him and beat him against the table.

"Many get under the table now!" hissed Teela while praying that Whiplash hadn't spotted the rest of them yet.

"What?"

"Do it and hurry!" whispered Teela.  With a growl Many-faces slid his whole body under the table.  Just in time too because Whiplash finally got past various patrons to get within ten feet of them.

"Ya know ya remind me of another little floating wizard.  Funny little guy who couldn't get his spells right," said Whiplash as he rubbed his chin.

"Really?  What happened to the handsome guy?" asked Obbo before taking a swing of his mug.

"Aw he was eating by Panthor.  Yep that cat found him mighty tasty," said Whiplash with a chuckle.  Obbo's yellow eyes flashed anger, which he quickly hid behind his raised mug.  It took all of Teela's will power not pull her plasma pistol out and begin shooting.  Instead she removed her hood and turned to Whiplash with a sweet smile.

"Now now Whiplash, lets not speak ill of the dead," said Teela.  Whiplash's jaw dropped from his mouth.  His shocked expression was so identical to Beastman's reaction that it was scary.  After a few seconds though he soon reacted and his large scaly tail wrapped itself around Teela's waist.

"Hey I usually have a guy pay for my dinner before letting him do this much touching," said Teela as she casually rested her arms against the tail wrapped around her.  Secretly she was frightened to death that he would squeeze her so hard that her ribs and backbone would simply snap.  Whiplash grinned and traced a large finger against her cheek.

"Look whose decided to come back.  Teela the former Defender and she's all grown up," said Whiplash.  His finger went down to her chest and he gave one of her breast a gentle squeeze.  They both knew her life was in his hands.

"You know there's a alleyway just a block up the street.  No one will see us there and we'll have some privacy to talk," said Teela while trying to ignore the fact that he was fondling her.  She just hoped Many-faces could hear what they were saying.

"Yeah I think we do need a bit more privacy," said Whiplash.  He turned and walked towards the front door.  Teela was soon forced to follow due to the grip of his tail.  Most of the men in the bar gave hoots and whistles as he dragged her outside.  The few women there actually looked envious.  That disturbed Teela more then the hoots.

"Ya know I owe ya for a lot of bruises and broken bones you gave me," said Whiplash as they walked up the street.  It was nighttime now and the street was lit with moonlight.

"Aw a tough lizardman like you can take it," said Teela in a teasing tone.  The more she kept him talking, the less time he spent trying to do other things with her.  Soon they reached the dark alley and became almost invisible in the shadows.  Teela felt his hands touch her chest again and squeeze her breasts.

"Wh..whiplash I have one last question before you go doing your thing," said Teela as she tried to keep her voice under control.  She desperately wanted to reach for her pistol, but would probably never get it out before Whiplash spotted the movement.  She could feel him stop his squeezing, which she took as consent to continue.

"What's with the free drinks and the socializing?  Since when did you give a damn about the people in this city?" asked Teela.  In truth she really was wondering why he had acted so friendly with those people he and Skeletor had just conquered.

"Hey I aint a totally evil guy ya know.  And it feels good to have people pat me on the back and tell me I'm a great pal.  For the first time I'm getting the respect that I deserve," said Whiplash.  Suddenly she felt the tail pull her closer to Whiplash until he was only inches away.  She could feel his hot breath hit her neck as he lowered his face towards her.

"And now I'm getting the woman that I deserve," growled Whiplash as he lowered his lips to hers.

"Not this time scaly!"

Whiplash raised his head and instinctively tightened his grip on Teela with his tail.  Teela tried not to cry out in pain.  She knew if this tail ever came off she was going to have bruises on her waist.

"Whose there?" said Whiplash.  He could barely see anything from the dark alleyway.  Teela noticed that Whiplash's tail began to give off a green glow.  It loosened around her waist and soon it let her go.  Teela stumbled back in surprise.  Whiplash was even more surprised.

"I.. what.. can't control it…," grunted Whiplash as his tail moved back and forth.  It seemed to have a mind of it's own.

"That's because I'm in the driver's seat or is that tail seat?  Aw who cares!"

Both Teela and Whiplash looked up to see Obbo floating above them.  Obbo was making twirling motions and the glowing tail began wrapping itself around Whiplash.

"All yours monster face!"

An inhuman roar could be heard as Many-faces charged into the alleyway.  He ran past Teela so fast that he was a blur to her and threw a punch that hit Whiplash squarely in the face.  From the cracking sound Teela was pretty sure his nose was broken.  And from the way his eyes closed and he collapsed, Teela would guess that he was knocked out as well.

Teela expected the fight to end there, but instead of stopping Many-faces continued to pound on his body.  

"Many that's enough!  It's over," said Teela as she grabbed his arm.  He turned his fearsome face to her.  He appeared feral and wild like an animal.  Teela tried to suppress her fear as she placed a hand on his chest, which was now heaving.

"He touched you," growled Many-faces.  And then he raised a finger and poked her waist causing her to flinch in pain from the sore bruises.  The flinch caused Many-faces to give a rumbling growl

"I'm ok now.  We're the good guys remember?  We don't beat them when they're down," said Teela as she gave a shaky smile.  The animal anger seemed to drain from Many-faces and he nodded.  Teela drew her hand back then took a look at Whiplash.  The lizardman was still alive though it looked like he was going to be in a lot of pain when he woke up.  Obbo came floating down until he was at eye level with Teela.

"No one teases the death of one of my people.  Especially a fucking bastard like him," said Obbo as he dramatically raised a finger then gave a large burp.  For all his appearances, Teela had a strong suspicion that he was absolutely serious.  Well as serious as a drunk could get.

"Now what?" asked Many-faces.  After his recent berserk attack Teela was suddenly reminded that Many-faces might have killed humans in the pit.  She could still remember that one hundred gold challenge Beastman had made.  She wanted to just totally forget it, but the problem was she wasn't sure if she should.

"First we need to decide whether we go save He-Man or Duncan," said Teela.

"Duncan," said Many-faces without a moment of hesitation.  It seemed he was still holding that grudge against He-Man.

"Do you know where he is?" asked Teela.

"I know that he stays in Tri-clops's lab, but I don't know exactly where that is.  His lab is somewhere in this city.  Teela you should know that Duncan doesn't look the same since you last saw him.  Tri-clops experimented on him," said Many-faces.  Teela knew she had turned slightly pale.

"How bad is he?" asked Teela.

"The last time I saw him, he and Tri-clops came to the pit to make sure Battle Cat's collar was working right.  His right eye was gone and replaced with some sort of electronic sensor.  Also Tri-clops seemed to have complete control over him.  When Tri-clops said jump, he'd jump.  I don't know exactly how his controlling him," said Many-faces.  Teela simply nodded, trying not to let any of her fear show.  She had always planned to eventually meet Duncan when she got back to Eternia.  But she never dreamed it would be under these terrible conditions.

"Ok… lets wait for Whiplash to wake up and then we'll find out from him where Tri-clops's lab is at," said Teela.  Many-faces nodded while Obbo gave a loud yawn.

"I'm sleepy, wake me up when its morning babe," said Obbo as he floated behind Teela.  Before she could say a word, he opened the backpack and crawled in.

"Get out of there," barked Many-faces, but Teela raised her hand.

"It's ok, let him sleep there.  He actually earned it for a change," said Teela.  Whiplash let out a groan and his eyes opened.  He moaned as he raised his head, obviously feeling the pain of every blow that he was given.

"Hi Whippy, was it as good for as it was for me?" asked Teela teasingly as she knelt down.

"Ya brake ma nose," muttered Whiplash as he hissed with pain.  The unnatural angle of his nose made it pretty clear he wasn't lying.

"I'll break more if you don't tell us what we want to know," said Many-faces as he made a fist.  Whiplash tried to crawl away, but Many-faces grabbed him by the tail.

"Look we aren't going to hurt you anymore if you just answer one question.  Where is Tri-clops's lab?" asked Teela.

"Aint telling," growled Whiplash.

Thump!

He was rewarded a punch in the gut from Many-faces.  He gave off another moan of pain as he clutched himself.  Teela nearly winced.  She had only wanted to threaten the guy, not actually hurt him unless it became completely necessary.  This felt a bit too much like torture.  But if she argued with Many-faces right now in front of Whiplash then it would only hurt their chances of finding the lab.

"Maybe if we cut his tail off bit by bit, he'll talk," said Many-faces with a grin.  And what really scared Teela was that she wasn't sure whether or not he meant it.  Maybe he was just using his great actor abilities to trick Whiplash.  Then again maybe he had become so hateful of Skeletor's minions that he didn't mind doing something so horrible.  She couldn't stop herself from protesting just in case he meant it.

"Many we ar-"

"He took Man-at-arms workshop!  He replaced it with his own lab!  Just go to where Man-at-arms workshop used to be," said Whiplash fearfully.  Evidently he was convinced that Many-faces was sincere in his threat.  Teela didn't feel especially happy about their success.  With a sigh, Teela opened her backpack and put her hand in.

"Hey babe I'm trying to sleep.  Ooohhh I like being touched there."

"Shut up," said Teela as she felt for what she was looking for.  She pulled out a rope that glittered with a silver reflection in the moonlight.

"This is titanium rope.  Just something I picked up from a cargo ship one time.  There's no way he'll be able to break it when we tie him up with it," said Teela.

"We should just kill him," said Many-faces as Teela carefully approached Whiplash.

"We don't kill," said Teela with a tone that indicated you didn't want to argue with her.  Whiplash didn't struggle or give her any trouble when she wrapped the rope around him.  He obviously didn't want to take any chances of getting killed by Many-faces by trying to escape.  Soon his arms, legs, and especially tail were all tied up.  And she made sure to tie the rope over his mouth to gag him.  If they were lucky no one would find him until it was morning.

The two of them got up and left the alley.  Both knew by heart which way Man-at-arms workshop was. 

"It's a good thing that it's nighttime.  It'll make it easier to sneak in and rescue Duncan," said Many-faces.  Teela suddenly stopped and Many-faces stopped as well while giving her a questionable look.  She looked both determine and angry.

"You went too far," said Teela simply.  Many-faces simply appeared puzzled.

"Did you mean it when you said you'd cut his tail off bit by bit?  Would you have really done that?" asked Teela as she raised her voice.  It wasn't really a good idea to have a shouting match on the city street in the middle of the night, but Teela was far from caring at that point.

"If it got us the information yes," said Many-faces.  The words only caused Teela to feel angrier.

"Defenders don't torture people for information Many!"

"I'm not a Defender anymore!  The Defender's are dead Teela!  Dead!" roared Many-faces.  He was now only a foot away, towering over her.  She became very aware of how much bigger and stronger he was compared to her.  But she wasn't going to back down.

"Did you kill humans in the pit?"

The question seemed to catch Many-faces off guard.  He slowly backed up a foot, no longer angry.  Instead there was so much guilt in his eyes that Teela wanted to look away.

"Yes…  You want to know just how terrible a murderer I am?  Is that it Teela?  I've killed humans who were stupid enough to take up that one hundred gold challenge.  Some of them were just desperate men who needed money for their families.  You want to hear how I'm absolute scum?" asked Many-faces as his voice became shaky.  Teela slowly walked up to him and placed a hand against his cheek.  The green skin felt warm and firm under her fingers.

"What I want is for you to live by the principles that you believed in before Beastman enslaved you.  What was done in that pit shouldn't be blamed on you.  But now you have free will again Many.  If you do terrible things like torture people for information then you don't have anyone to blame, but yourself," said Teela.  She moved her hand away and continued walking down the street.  She wasn't sure if she had made her message clear, but she hoped he would think about her words.  

After a minute Many-faces was following her.  And as he followed her he rubbed his left cheek where she touched him.  He stared at her figure with longing and a need he couldn't describe.


	4. Chapter 4

Many-faces hadn't said a word as they walked down the streets.  The silence was just fine with Teela.  She tried to think of what she'd say to Duncan when they met him, but her thoughts kept turning to Orko.  When in immediate danger with Whiplash she couldn't allow herself to think about his death.  Teela had become very good at suppressing emotions when in a tight spot.  Well except for anger that is when her temper got the better of her.  Now though she could allow herself to remember the sweet little guy.  Possibly one of the most innocent people she ever met.  She could still remember how the jester would make her laugh even when she was angry.  She was jolted from her memories of him when she heard Many-faces's voice.

"There it is," said Many-faces, speaking for the first time since their argument.

Teela could remember how she'd run to Duncan's workshop as a little girl to watch him work.  She'd crawl onto a box and peer into the window.  That building from her childhood was gone now.  In its place was a building with steel walls and dome like roof.  There were no windows that allowed you to spy inside.  Teela tried to ignore the feeling of loss as she approached the front door.  When she pulled on the knob she found it locked.  Well there was a surprise.

"Stand back, I'll tear it down," said Many-faces from behind her.

"Lets not do that just yet.  There's probably an alarm that would be triggered.  I have a better idea," said Teela as she opened her backpack.  Thankfully Obbo didn't wake up when she moved him aside to get what she was looking for.  She pulled out a leather pouch.  Opening the pouch, she poured out lock picks.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Many-faces.  Teela knelt down before the front door and entered a lock pick into the key slot.

"I was part of a security force that taught its members how to do this.  That way we could search through civilian's chests and such when they were under suspicion of some crime," said Teela.  She jiggled the lock pick.  Then she placed another lock pick in from below the key slot. 

Click!

She turned the doorknob with a smirk.  It creaked open to reveal a room filled with electronic devices, test tubes, and screen monitors.  Teela drew out her pistol and slowly walked in.  Many-faces was close behind her, sniffing the air with his sensitive nose.

"I can smell Man-at-arm's scent, he went through that door," said Many-faces as he pointed to a door.  Teela walked around equipment and devices to get to the door.  Some of it she recognized such as weapons and armor and some of it was totally unrecognizable.  She grabbed the doorknob, gave Many-faces a nod, than swung it open with her pistol raised.  It wasn't another room, but what appeared to be a closet.  It was totally empty except for the large figure standing there.  Teela's gun hand shook as she stared at the man she used to call father.

He still wore his thick orange and green armor that he seemed to always wear twenty-four hours a day.  There was much more gray in his dark brown hair and as Many-faces had said, his right eye was gone.  The eye and part of his cheek it appeared was cut off and a metal panel was somehow embedded on his face.  On this metal panel was a red lens that Teela could only assumed was some sort of 'improved eye' that Tri-clops decided to give his assistant.  Before she could study him further, his human eye opened.  That human eye stared at them in shock.

"Teela!" said Duncan in pure disbelief.  His left hand moved to touch her, but the rest of his body stood totally still.

"Fa..father?"

Teela hadn't planned on calling him father.  She was suppose to call him Duncan damn it!  Make this totally professional.  Don't think of him as a father she left behind.  He was supposed to be just another comrade she left behind.  He wasn't her real father.  He wasn't her real father!

"Teela, you're all grown up," whispered Duncan as a tear came down from his human eye.  That tear broke the last of Teela's defenses.  She literally jumped him and hugged him so hard she thought she might break him.  His left arm circled her waist and he held her tightly.  He still had that smell of oil and grease from building his inventions.  Many-faces didn't say anything, but there was a smile on his monstrous face.  Teela finally let go and looked into his face.  She tried not to stare at the artificial eye.

"Father we're going to get you out of here," said Teela as she once again tried to get a handle on her emotions.  Now wasn't the time for mushy moments, but maybe later after they escaped they could have one.  Duncan let go of her waist.  His face didn't light up when she talked about escaping.  In fact he looked depressed.  And it was then that Teela finally noticed something.

"Father, why can you only move your left arm?" asked Teela.  She began to get a sick feeling in her stomach.  Something wasn't quite right here.

"Teela, my eye isn't the only thing Tri-clops took away from me.  His made other changes as well.  Let me see your pistol," said Duncan as he put his hand out.  Teela handed him her plasma pistol.  He aimed the pistol at his own leg and before Teela could shout a protest, he fired.  Sparks flew through the air as a beam of energy hit the armored left leg.  He fired three shots before stopping.  When the smoke cleared there was now a hole in his armored leg.

"Are you nuts!" said Teela as she grabbed the pistol from his hand.  Duncan though didn't show a bit of pain on his face.

"Teela look through the hole I made," said Duncan.  His artificial eye was now giving off a red light.  Teela took a deep breath and then leaned down towards the hole.  She expected to see pink flesh or a terrible wound that was bleeding.  Instead all she saw were wires inside the hole that sparked and sizzled.  Teela stared at that hole for a minute before she truly comprehended what she was seeing.  There was no human leg in side this armor.  Tri-clops had replaced his human leg with a robotic one.

"How much of you is still human?" asked Teela as she got up.  Her voice almost cracked when she asked the question.  Many-faces put a comforting hand onto her shoulder.

"Well most of my head as you can see as well as most of my torso and my left arm.  Robotic parts had replaced the rest of me.  I'm a cyborg now Teela.  And Tri-clops has been controlling my robotic parts by both remote and voice command.  His made me his slave," said Duncan.  His voice didn't hold the same hate that Many-faces showed when talking about Beastman.  Perhaps he was just too old to feel a passionate hate for the ones who had hurt him.  Or perhaps his spirit had been even more broken then Many-faces's.  

"I'll carry you out of here," said Many-faces.  He took his hand off Teela and approached, but Duncan shook his head.

"As long as Tri-clops can control me by remote, he can command me to return back to him.  You two are simply going to have to leave me here.  As long as I know your ok Teela, I'll be fine," said Duncan as he gave her a fatherly smile.  They were in a frustrating situation.  And for whatever reason, Teela felt her temper rising.

"Father you're being an idiot!"

"Oh how I missed my daughter's temper tantrums," said Duncan in a longing voice.  Teela could almost swear she heard Many-faces snicker behind her.  Her face began to flush.

"Father you're a inventor just like Tri-clops!"

"I was a inventor Teela."

"You ARE a inventor Father!  And you should know how this mechanical body you have works just as much as Triclops does.  I know you can figure out a way to get rid of Tri-clops control over you.  And I'm not leaving until you figure out a way to do it," said Teela as she defiantly crossed her arms.  For the first time Duncan appeared annoyed and turned his gaze to Many-faces.

"Many get her out of here!  There's no way I'm going to be able to override Tri-clops control over me," said Duncan as his voice became more commanding.  For a second Teela feared Many-faces was going to follow his order, but instead he crossed his arms and grinned.

"Sorry Duncan, I'm with Teela on this one," said Many-faces as he gave her a wink.  Duncan gave a snort of disgust.

"Look Tri-clops would never let me near the plans for my own cyborg parts.  I've been studying them the best I could, but still don't know very much about how they work," said Duncan.  Teela rolled her eyes before responding.

"Then we'll just get those plans for you with his computer," said Teela.  She walked out of the closet and headed for what appeared to be the main computer of the lab.

"His password is Red Eye!" shouted Duncan from the closet.  His voice held just a hint of hope in it.  It looked like he was starting to believe that Teela could get him out of here.  Well she wasn't going to leave this place until she got her father out.

She began typing on the console in front of her.  Besides the password, there were no other obstacles to getting to his files.  It took a few minutes, but soon she found a file labeled 'Duncan'.  Inside the file were plans to every robotic part he was installed with.  Their was also a log, where Tri-clops basically described his enjoyment he had of cutting off Duncan's limbs.  In one log he described how Duncan cried out for Teela when his right arm was replaced.  Slowly Teela's eyes moved away from the screen to a gas bomb that was on one of the tables.

I can set that up in this lab before we leave.  I wonder how Tri-clops would like a taste of those nasty chemical gases that he developed.  I wonder if it would melt his flesh off or maybe just-

"Defender's don't do that.  Defender's don't set up bombs to kill people," muttered Teela as she turned her eyes away from the weapon of destruction.  She wasn't a Defender though and hadn't been one for five years.  Many-faces said the Defenders were dead now.  And most of them probably were in spirit if not physically.  And Tri-clops so deserved death.  Skeletor and all his minions deserved horrible, painful deaths.

"Teela?!  Teela did you find something?" shouted Duncan from the closet.  Many-faces was still in there with him.

"Yeah I found the plans father!  Just give me a minute to print them!" shouted Teela.  She put in a command to print the plans for the cyborg parts.  After they were printed, she didn't touch the gas bomb.  For the simple reason that if Duncan found out she killed Tri-clops with it then the consequences wouldn't be good.

On one hand Duncan would disapprove and she would once again disappoint him.  On the other hand he might actually be happy that she did it.  And that would actually be worst…  She didn't want to see Duncan smiling because Tri-clops was killed no matter how much Tri-clops deserved it.  She never saw her father enjoy anyone's death before and she didn't want to take the chance that he might do so now.

"Ok got them!" called out Teela with a smile as she approached the closet.  She didn't touch the gas bomb, but she did delete every folder she could find on the computer.  Tri-clops's recordings of his experiments and inventions had now been erased.  Looks like he was going to have to start from scratch, oh well.

"Good work," said Duncan with a proud smile as Teela handed him the plans.  That proud smile gave Teela a warm feeling. 

"Better take a seat.  This could take a while," said Duncan as he looked over the plans.  Teela and Many-faces sat down on the cold steel floor.  After an hour Teela began to poke her head out of the closet to watch the front door.

"We have about four hours before Tri-clops comes in," said Duncan without taking his eyes off the plans.  He read the plans the same way he did everything else, patiently with no hurry.  It was actually reassuring in a way to see that this characteristic didn't change with the years of slavery.

Every once in a while Teela would give Many-faces a glance.  The silence was now awkward and she felt like she should talk to Many-faces about something.  Back when they were Defenders, Many-faces often talked to her and the others about plays he had been recently in.  Of course now that wasn't really an option unless you considered his duels to the death with monsters as plays.  Many-faces wasn't bothered by the silence at all, but he noticed her discomfort and so opened his mouth to say something.

"That's a nice scent," said Many-faces as he sniffed the air.

"Thanks for the compliment, but we both know I don't wear perfume.  I probably stink," said Teela as she scooted over closer to him.  She was surprised when he leaned over and took a whiff of her.  His face was only inches from her neck as he took in more of her scent.  He finally leaned back and gave her a grin.

"I'm glad, my heightened sense of smell makes perfume unbearable.  Your hair has a wonderful scent of jasmine in it though," said Many-faces as he moved a finger through her hair.

"That's the shampoo I use," said Teela as she tried not to blush.  During the years in outer space she had been hit on by crewmen whose idea of romance was a one night stand.  Many-faces was an actor though and knew a lot more about how to romance a woman.  Even when he was using his monster face, Many-faces could be very charming at times.  Teela could remember how he flirted with girls with ease five years ago.  She was never one of those girls though until now.  Maybe it was because she wasn't a teenager anymore.  Oh hell, maybe it was because she was the first female he had conversed with in years.

"Uh-hum!"

Teela gave a quick scoot away from Many-faces as her face turned red.  Many-faces turned to glare at Duncan with his crimson eyes.

"I've figured out what we have to do," said Duncan as he kept his face neutral.  Teela and Many-faces got up, waiting expectantly.  Duncan moved a hand behind his neck and a beeping sound could be heard as he pressed a button.  The chest and arms of his armor split into pieces and collapsed to the ground with a clanging sound.  Teela knew she couldn't turn away no matter how much she wanted to.

Duncan's left arm was complete human.  His torso had computer chips embedded in the flesh and wires poked in and out in various places.  For the most part though you saw pink human flesh, which was firm and powerful.  It seemed Tri-clops at least kept Duncan well fed if nothing else.  His right arm though was made of steel and wires.  As Teela saw the robotic arm, she wondered what happened to the human one Tri-clops hacked off.  Did he keep it as a souvenir?  Or just throw it away like it was trash?

"Teela on my stomach, one of these chips has a symbol of an eye on it.  I need you to find it and remove it," said Duncan.  He patted his stomach and gave her a reassuring smile.  Teela returned the smile then lowered her eyes to his stomach.  She hoped she didn't turn pale as she peered closer at each chip sown onto his stomach.  Seeing Tri-clops handy work close up made her feel slightly ill.  She spotted the chip almost instantly and touched it.  Suddenly a question that she just couldn't get out of her head popped up.  Below his waist… how much of that was human?  Did Tri-clops take away his manhood as well?  As much as Teela tried, she couldn't get that question out of her head and her hands began to shake.  She mentally cursed and steadied them as best as she could.

"Teela…"

Teela looked up to her father while trying to hide any discomfort she felt.

"It's ok to find this disturbing Teela.  In fact if you act too casual about this, you'll scare me," joked Duncan as he ruffled her hair.  He must have spotted her hands shaking and knew this was upsetting her.  For the first time Teela felt like an idiot for leaving.  Even with all the dishonor and shame she suffered here, she still could have stayed as long as Duncan cared for her.  But she had already made her choices and now had to live with them.  Teela raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.  Duncan looked slightly surprised, but quickly smiled again.

"I can't see anyway of pulling it out without injuring you," said Teela as she continued to study the chip.  Many-faces pushed her gently aside and then raised a hand.  The hand became a claw as the fingers became pointed and sharp.

"Many!?" exclaimed Teela alarmed.  Many-faces held her back with his other hand as he looked at her.

"Teela trust me, I can cut that chip out much more carefully with my claw then you can with a knife," said Many-faces.  His crimson eyes seem to plead to her.

"His right Teela.  I've seen Many peel an apple with those claws," said Duncan.  He gave Many-faces a pat on the shoulder.  Teela sighed and nodded.  Many-faces turned to Man-at-arms with his claw hovering over the chip.  

Swish!

He was precise and quick with cutting his claws around the chip.  In less then ten seconds he pulled it out.  Duncan hissed in pain, but otherwise seemed fine.  There was a bleeding gash where the cheap was pulled out.  Without a word Teela pulled out a bandage from her backpack and began wrapping around his waist to now cover up the wound.  After she was done all three stared at the chip.

"Now what?" asked Many-faces as he held the bloodied chip in the light.

"Destroy it."

Crunch!

Many-faces closed his hand into a fist and crushed the chip until it was dust.  A second later Duncan collapsed to the ground.

"Father are you ok?" asked Teela alarmed as she knelt beside him.

"I'm ok Teela.  I just need to learn to use these cyborg limbs on my own now.  It'll take awhile though before I can figure out how to use them," said Duncan.  He had a wide grin on his face and it wasn't hard to figure out why.  He was free now.  Admittedly free and half paralyzed, but still free.

"We don't have time for you to learn to walk now.  I'll carry you outside," said Many-faces.

"Help me get my armor back on first, but don't touch the armor pieces for my left arm," said Duncan.  He grabbed the chest pieces and Teela grabbed the pieces for his right arm, but no one touched the pieces of armor that covered his left arm.  Perhaps he wanted to make sure that he could always see that human arm of his to remind himself that he wasn't a machine.  Duncan was carried piggyback on Many-faces's back as they walked out of the lab.  Surprisingly they had over an hour before Tri-clops was supposed to show.  Teela had expected this to be one of those situations where they only got out five minutes before Tri-clops showed up.  Looks like some divine force decided to finally give them a break.

"You're doing great father," said Teela with a smile as she held onto both his robotic and human hand.  Duncan was walking towards her on his cyborg legs.  It was as if he was an infant who was once again learning to walk.  His steps were jerky and uneven, but with every hour he practiced, he made progress.  It had been three hours since they left the lab and Duncan predicted that it would only take him another hour before he could run and walk as easily as they could.  In fact he'd probably be able to move faster than them soon.  His cyborg limbs made him faster and stronger compared to a normal human.  But he still would never have made the sacrifices for such a gift if he had a choice.  

"Let's take a break," said Teela.  Duncan's face was sweating and he was panting for breath.  He sat next to the wall and patted the ground for Teela to sit next to him.  They were both in an alleyway with Many-faces guarding the entrance.  Teela smiled when he slid his human arm around her waist to pull her closer.  By the Elders how he missed being able to touch someone else.  Turning into a cyborg made you realize how precious the sense of touch was.  To be able to feel another's warm skin against your warm skin.  But he was letting his mind wonder and he knew he couldn't do that.

"We need to talk," said Duncan while taking on a more serious tone.  He felt Teela tense under his hold as if she was about to sprint away.

"Teela why did you leave?" asked Duncan softly.  She appeared slightly surprised.  Maybe she thought he was going to yell at her.

"You know why father.  I failed Adam and… I wanted to start over.  Or maybe I just wanted to run away from my guilt," said Teela with a sigh.

"You can't run away from guilt Teela.  You have to face it," said Duncan.  He learned that lesson the hard way  

"Aren't you angry I ran off?  I mean aren't you going to shout at me a little?" asked Teela.  It almost sounded like she was pleading him to shout at her.  He smiled and gave her waist a squeeze.

"Teela believe it or not, I was actually thanking the Elders that you were gone," said Duncan.  Teela's expression of hurt and shock made Duncan realize she misinterpreted him.  Well he had only Tri-clops to converse with for the last four years.  His speaking skills weren't at their best.

"What I mean is that I was glad you weren't here to suffer this conquest of Eternia.  It gives me nightmares to think what Skeletor would do to you if you had been here.  The one joy I had during Tri-clops's tortures was knowing that you were safe somewhere out there," said Duncan with a smile.  Teela's eyes watered some, but she wiped them before tears could be formed.  Yep that was her Teela, tough as nails.  Wouldn't cry no matter how emotional she got.

"I should have stayed though.  I might have been able to help.  I abandoned you and now look what happened," said Teela as she looked away.  Duncan rested his chin atop her head and held her even more closely.  It was comforting to feel her heartbeat.

"And I shouldn't have slapped you, no matter what the reason.  We all make mistakes Teela, but as long as you learn from them its ok.  And I knew you'd come back eventually.  At times I wanted to take my own life, but I stopped because I knew I had to wait for you to come back.  I had to make sure Skeletor didn't get you," said Duncan.  Teela snuggled in his protective hold.  It had probably been a long time since she was able to let herself be this vulnerable with someone.

"Well I didn't know I was going to come back someday.  I don't even know why I did come back," muttered Teela frustrated.

"Closure," said Duncan simply.

"Oh not you too!  Honestly, I'm not even sure what that means," said Teela as she pushed away.  She stomped off leaving a confused Duncan.

"Jeez babe can't you keep it down so I can get some sleep?!  Or is it that time of month again?"

Duncan slowly turned to see… Orko!?  He appeared to be crawling out of Teela's backpack.  Duncan was about to run up and hug the little guy, but then he noticed a few things.  First Orko had a larger belly since he last saw him.  Second he appeared intoxicated with the way he swooned back and forth.  Third he was holding out what appeared to be Teela's white panties.

"Wow will you look at these?  I always assumed the babe was into black lingerie myself.  Think she'd mind if I borrowed these?"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:  Thanks for the reviews, especially the crazy one from Tuna.J  Anyway with the new He-man series out I'm hoping to see more He-man fanfiction out there.  Hope everyone is enjoying it.  Oh yeah and I don't own Teela, He-man, and the characters except for the drunk Obbo.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

The shriek of outrage caused Many-faces to turn to see Teela moving towards Obbo in a predatory fashion.  In Obbo's hands was a pair of white panties he was holding up in the air.  Next he pulled out Teela's white bra, which he twirled around on his finger.

"You are so dead," growled Teela as she gave Obbo a murderous glare.  For once Obbo seemed to be aware that he was in immediate danger and gulped nervously.

"Orko is that you?" asked Duncan still watching Obbo with shock.  He stood up and stepped closer to get a better look at the little wizard.

"Yep Orko, that's me.  Now how about protecting your buddy Orko from being killed," said Obbo nervously.  He quickly dived behind Duncan with the panties and bra still in hand.

"Father that's not Orko, that's Obbo.  He came with me when I came back here to Eternia.  Now please move aside so I can give him the beating he deserves," said Teela as she made a fist.

"Teela calm down.  I'm sure he didn't mean-"

"Hey look at me!"

The trio of former Defenders turned to Obbo and stared.  He had strapped on Teela's bra on his chest and was now making a pose with one hand on his hip.

"Look at me, I'm Teela and I boss people all the time.  And I can throw the biggest temper tantrums you have ever seen," said Obbo in a girly voice as he twirled around with the bra on.  Teela could hear a chuckle from Many-faces behind her.  Even Duncan was having trouble keeping a straight face.  Teela clenched her jaw and charged past Duncan.  Obbo was a bit dizzy from his twirling and couldn't dodge her hand when it grabbed him by the collar.

"Listen Obbo, hands off my underwear!  And I don't have temper tantrums!" yelled Teela with fury as she began to shake Obbo like a rag doll.  Duncan and Many-faces gave each other a glance, but didn't say anything.

"O..oo…kkk…," stuttered Obbo.  He shakily dropped the bra and the panties.  With her face burning red, Teela grabbed her underwear and stuffed it inside her backpack.

"So what happened to our Orko?" asked Duncan.  He sat down against the wall again.

"He.. um.. we think his probably dead," said Teela.  She wasn't about to go into details on how they knew he was dead.  Duncan's face fell, but he showed no surprise.

"Father do you know if any other Defenders are alive?" asked Teela.  It was eating away at her not to know what friends were alive or dead.

"I know He-Man has been imprisoned in Snake Mountain for the last four years.  As for the other Defenders, I saw the dead body of Mekaneck.  I don't know if any of the others survived.  Tri-clops wanted to dissect Mekaneck's body to see how his robotic neck worked.  He'd… cut him open and… he forced me to be there to watch," muttered Duncan as he began to have a far away look in his eyes.  He was reliving that memory of Mekaneck's dead body being opened up.  Teela gave his shoulder shake to snap him out of it.  She gave him a reassuring smile, which he returned.  

"Father, Many-faces says that He-Man didn't show up and that's why you were defeated," said Teela as she watched him carefully for a reaction.  She was wondering if he held the same anger that Many-faces held against He-Man.  Duncan didn't seem upset though as he rubbed his chin.

"Yes the Sorceress said she'd find him and bring him to the palace, but they never showed.  Evil-Lyn wasn't in the battle at the palace so I always assumed that she was somehow involved in He-Man's failure to come," said Duncan.

"Father do you know what happened to the Sorceress?" asked Teela.  She always felt closeness to the woman even though she barely knew her.  As strange as it seemed, losing contact with her felt almost as painful as losing contact with Duncan.  

"The Sorceress is alive Teela and thankfully Castle Grayskull isn't in Skeletor's hands," said Duncan.  Relief flooded through Teela at hearing that news.  All the terrible news she had been hearing so far had begun to get to her.

"How has she been able to defend Castle Grayskull?  Skeletor almost broke into that place even with us defending it.  Now with no Defenders, I'd think it was easy," said Many-faces.  He raised a good point.  How did the Sorceress protect the castle during all these years?

"Inside Castle Grayskull there is an orb that holds all the powers of the Elders.  From what I overheard from Tri-clops, it seems the Sorceress tapped into its power to create a powerful barrier to protect the castle.  Even with his increased strength, Skeletor has never been able to get through that barrier," said Duncan.  He rubbed his chin again and seemed to contemplate something.  Finally he stood up and took Teela's hand with his own human hand.  Teela gave him a questionable look, but didn't move away.

"Teela… I've kept your mother's identity a secret from you because she asked it of me, but now I think its time you knew.  Teela the Sorceress is your mother," said Duncan.  Teela's face turned pale and the shock she felt seemed to roll over her body like a wave.  She jerked her hand away and Duncan didn't seemed to be surprised that she had done so.

"I can't believe she got the jump on you!"

"Me!?  You're the one who says she was dead!  She sure didn't look dead to me!"

"SILENCE!"

Beastman and Whiplash froze in their argument and turned to Skeletor.  Skeletor sat on his throne made of bones.  Bones of the King, Queen, Defenders, and guardsmen who dared to fight him.  The throne room where King Randor once resided was now where Skeletor resided and it felt good.

"You are both incompetent!  Years of easy living here in Eternia have made you both soft!  But it doesn't matter," said Skeletor, "She is only one woman who has very little help.  Post a five hundred gold bounty for Teela alive.  The people she used to protect will be the ones who'll turn her in."

"You want her alive?" asked Beastman surprised.  He fidgeted when Skeletor gave him a glare with his glowing red eyes.

"Yes, it's been a while since I've seen our lovely Teela.  I will personally break her will," said Skeletor.  He had grown bored with the slave women he kept in the palace.  He needed a new diversion and Teela would make a very good diversion.  From their description Teela had finally become a beautiful woman.

"Now leave me!" said Skeletor with a wave of his hand.  Beastman and Whiplash scurried away.  Skeletor turned his attention back to the scroll that showed the latest reports of damage done to the mystic wall.  Years ago Skeletor had been denied access to Eternia due to a mystic wall.  Now he was using a mystic wall he himself built to block off the other kingdoms from Eternia.  When King Randor was killed, Skeletor found almost every other kingdom declaring war on him.  His only chance had been to use the same trick the Sorceress had used against him and build his own mystic wall to protect his newly acquired kingdom.  He would have nothing to fear from the other kingdoms if he only could get the power in Grayskull.

"Even now at my peak of strength, I'm denied Grayskull," growled Skeletor as he squeezed the scroll.

"Skelly?" 

Skeletor turned to see a three-year-old child walking towards him.  The little boy had blonde hair and violet eyes.  He climbed up the throne and onto Skeletor's lap.  He wasn't the least bit disturbed at touching the human bones or sitting in the lap of a man with a skull face.

"Ah Alexander, have you come to see Uncle Skelly," said Skeletor as he gave the boy a pat on the back.  It seemed Evil-Lyn's nanny must have lost the child.  He'd have her executed and get a better one for the boy.

"My daughter has finally come back," whispered the Sorceress as she sat on her throne.  Even the powerful barrier she erected couldn't keep her from sensing her daughter when she landed on the planet.  The Sorceress had sat on that throne for the last four years now.  On her lap laid the Orb of Power.  The object that contained all the Elder's powers that she was suppose to protect.  She was supposed to never use the power of the Orb, but to protect it with the help of He-Man.  Times have changed though and she was forced to constantly tap into its magics to hold up the barrier that protected the castle.  But there were consequences to such actions.

"If we ever meet again I'll tell her the truth?  But would she even believe me considering my appearance now," said the Sorceress as she studied her hands that were now talons.  She now had a falcon's head instead of a human head.  Her skin was covered with light feathers.  And talons replaced her hands.

"I can appear human if I want, but I am no longer human.  The Orb took the last of my humanity away," said the Sorceress with a sigh.  She talked to herself constantly.  She had no one else to talk to in this lonely castle.  Once upon a time she was human who could turn into a falcon.  But now the Orb had taken away her human form to mutate her into the creature she was now.  

"Please daughter, stay safe out there.  And come here so I may see you," said the Sorceress.  She would know if Teela approached Castle Grayskull.  And if she did then the Sorceress would bring down the magical barrier she had kept over the castle for four years.

"Teela…?"

"Go away,"

"Teela, Duncan has learned to walk well now."

"Good for him,"

"Teela, we need to figure out a way out of this city," said Many-faces with a sigh.  Teela was sitting on the ground with her arms wrapped around her legs.  She had made it very clear that she didn't want Duncan near her.  What was she thinking calling him father?  This wouldn't have hurt so much if she hadn't done that.  See what happens when she let her feelings get the better of her?  She just ended up getting hurt.

"Teela I know you're angry at Duncan and you probably have every right to be angry.  But I think you have to watch how you treat him," said Many-faces.  Teela finally turned to gaze at him with her eyes sparkling with anger.  

"Watch how I treat him!?  How about we watch how he treats me!  Like knowing who my mother was and not saying a damn word!" said Teela.  All those times they met the Sorceress, she was meeting her own mother.  All those chances she was denied of getting to know her because Duncan was so damn good at keeping a secret.  It wasn't just Duncan she hated right now though.  It was herself as well.  She should have figured it out somehow.  If she had been a bit smarter she would have figured it out.  And lets not forget to blame her own mother who evidently didn't want anything to do with her as a daughter.

"Teela look at him," said Many-faces simply as he gestured down the alleyway.  Duncan hadn't approached her after she yelled for him to keep away.  At first he practiced his walking some more, but now he was simply standing there and staring at the wall.  His human eye appeared dead and vacant and he hadn't moved a muscle making it almost seem like Tri-clops still had control of his body.

"Teela I don't think Duncan can handle you being upset with him right now.  He's been through a lot Teela.  If you don't get over this now and talk to him, then you'll probably break what's left of his spirit," said Many-faces.  Teela wanted to deny what he was saying, but she couldn't.  She could remember how he claimed she was the reason he hadn't committed suicide.

"I.. I can't just pretend everything is fine Many-faces.  You're the actor remember?  Not me," said Teela with a shaky smile.  She couldn't just stop the feelings of betrayal and grief that was rising up in her.

"Teela do you love Duncan like a father?" asked Many-faces.  His crimson eyes studied her.

"I.. yes," said Teela though she didn't want to.  But there was no use denying it.

"And do you have any doubt that Duncan loves you like a daughter?" asked Many-faces.

"No, but he still shou-"

"Teela shut up and go make your father feel better.  You want to be angry with him?  Fine, but don't stay away from him because you're feeling hurt.  Or are you just going to sit there and sulk like a baby?" said Many-faces with a glint in his eye.  Teela stood up and glared at Many-faces.  She knew a challenge when she heard one.  He was asking if she was tough enough to get over the emotional pain she felt and help father.  Well Teela never back down from a challenge and she wasn't about to do so now.

Teela walked over to Duncan.  Fear crept into her heart when she didn't see him respond at all.  He had that same vacant look with his human eye.  

"Father are you ok?" asked Teela.  Duncan blinked and finally focused on her.  There was an emptiness behind that gaze though that frightened Teela.  Many-faces was right, Duncan wasn't in a state where he could suffer her keeping away from him both emotionally and physically.

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with me," said Duncan in a dull voice.  Teela took a deep breath before speaking.

"Father I'm fucking pissed at you, but I love you.  And no matter how much it hurts that you kept this secret from me, I'm always going to love you," said Teela awkwardly.  She never told Duncan she loved him back when she was a Defender.  Strong, tough Defenders didn't go around telling even their fathers that they loved them.  And for the last five years as a wanderer she certainly hadn't bothered telling anyone she loved them.  The word 'love' wasn't something she was use to saying.

"And I love you Teela," said Duncan as smile came onto his lips.  He knew how hard it was for Teela to share feelings like this with anyone.  The emptiness in his eyes was gone for now and replaced with warmth.

"So how do we get out of the city?" asked Many-faces as he crossed his arms.

"Obbo do you think you can do an invisibility spell on all of us?" asked Teela.

"I don't know Teela.  I've never made this many people invisible," said Obbo.  Teela noticed that he wasn't swooning back and forth any more.  And his voice wasn't slurred. 

"Obbo how many fingers am I holding up?" asked Teela as she raised three fingers.

"Three," said Obbo with a shrug.

"Shoot you need to be more drunk if we're going to stand a chance of getting that spell cast.  You guys wait here and I'll go get something," said Teela before turning and walking out of the alleyway.

"She wants to get Obbo drunk before he casts a spell?" asked Duncan with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep, don't bother trying to understand it Duncan," said Many-faces as he leaned against a wall.

"Here's a bottle of whiskey Obbo.  Drink up and we'll try the spell in half an hour," said Teela as she handed him a dirty bottle.

"Ah whiskey!  The nectar of joy," said Obbo as he poured the contents down his throat.

"How did you buy it?  I thought you didn't have any money," said Many-faces.

"Some guy bought it for me for free," said Teela with a shrug.  She didn't mention that the guy ended up with a broken wrist because he tried to fondle her as well.  Teela glanced over at Duncan.  He seemed preoccupied with doing hand combat moves.  The speed and accuracy of his moves were impressive.

"Many thanks for knocking some sense into me.  I mean I probably would have ended up emotional scarring him if you hadn't told me to be more supportive," said Teela.  Many-faces gave her a friendly grin and placed an arm over her shoulder.

"That's what friends are for Teela and you were right as well.  When you told me I was going too far with handling Whiplash.  It's just that… I hated how he had touched you," growled Many-faces.  Teela could feel him pull her protectively against his chest. 

"I'm a big girl Many.  I can take care of myself," said Teela as she contemplated whether or not to push him away.  Handling scum at a bar who was hitting on her was easy.  She just beat them up.  Handling her friend who seemed to be interested in her was a bit more complicated.

"Yeah, but I still don't like anyone touching you.  Not unless it's me," said Many-faces.  He leaned his green face towards hers.  Teela placed a finger on his lips when they came within inches of hers.

"Many I just found out the place I used to call home is now conquered by Skeletor.  My father is a cyborg and this whole time it turned out the Sorceress was my mother.  And if you make my life any more complicated by kissing me I'm going to hurt you," said Teela sternly.  It was the most honest answer she could think of.  She never saw Many-faces in a romantic way.  Maybe she could feel that way towards him, maybe she couldn't.  But with everything going on now, she simply didn't have the time to bother with a love life.

"Teela just tell me if it's because of my face.  This monster face," said Many-faces.  There was no anger in his voice, just sorrow.  Teela rolled her eyes as she pushed away from him.

"Many I never considered your monster face ugly, but neither am I going to say I fantasized about it either.  Look the only reason your probably even flirting with me is because I'm the only female around right now," said Teela.

"That's not true," said Many-faces sounding outrage.

"Name even one time back five years ago when you showed even a remote interest in me," said Teela as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Well that's different!  I mean back then you were just a kid," said Many-faces.  He could guess from Teela's raised eyebrows that it was the wrong response to give.  

"A kid!?  I was seventeen!" yelled Teela.  Did all the Defenders think of her as a 'kid'?  How dare he make it sound like she was a child.  She was fighting just as well as him back when she was seventeen.

"Fight!  Fight!  Fight!  Give him a punch to the jaw Teela!" shouted Obbo as he bounced around the air.  The whiskey had finally taken effect.

"We'll talk about this later Many.  Obbo how many fingers am I holding up?" asked Teela as she raised two fingers.  Obbo responded by giving a loud belch.

"Yep, his drunk now.  Obbo I want you to cast an invisibility spell onto us," said Teela.

"Oooookkkkk!  I'll do that, but first I want something babe!" said Obbo as he lazily floated back and forth.

"What do you want Obbo?" asked Teela as she felt a headache coming on.

"I want… to hold your panties again!" said Obbo dramatically as he raised a finger.

"Absolutely not!" said Teela as she grabbed her backpack protectively.

"Fine!  Then I aint doing the spell!" said Obbo with a huff.  Duncan and Many-faces didn't dare say a word.  They simply took a few steps back.

"Obbo make us invisible right now!"

"Panties!"

"I'm serious Obbo!"

"Panties!"

"OBBO!"

"Pan_aacckkk!"

"Teela I really don't think you should be choking him like that," said Duncan as Teela put her hands around the little drunk's throat and began to squeeze.  Teela withdrew her hands with a sigh.  Father was right, she wasn't going to get Obbo to help by choking him to death.

"Obbo I tell you what, make us invisible and I'll buy you some panties later.  And they can be any color you want," said Teela.  Obbo's eyes lit up as he clapped his hands.

"Alright!  You got yourself a deal!  Now let us disappear!" said Obbo as he wiggled his fingers.  The group began to fade away and was soon invisible to the naked eye.

It wasn't that hard to sneak out of the city with the invisibility spell cast over them.  Now they were half a mile away from the city and the spell had worn off.

"We need to head for the coast.  I know somebody who might be able to help us get to He-Man at Snake Mountain," said Duncan before he began walking towards the coast of the ocean.  They could probably make it there within an hour.

"Why are you guys so sure He-Man can even help us?  He sure wasn't any help against Skeletor," growled Many-faces.  

"Many we don't even know why He-Man didn't show up and save Eternia.  Lets find out that first before we start judging him," said Teela.  Many-faces simply gave a grunt and followed Duncan.  Teela had a feeling that he didn't agree with her.  

"So when do I get my panties?" asked Obbo as he floated next to her.

"Later," said Teela.  She grabbed him by the hand and began following the two men in front of her. 

After an hour of walking they had reached the coast of the ocean.  Duncan opened a plate on his arm to reveal a control panel of some sort.  He began to press various buttons.

"So exactly who is this person that can help us?" asked Teela.  She scanned the vast blue ocean before her.

"The leader of the rebellion that goes against Skeletor's dominance.  I overheard about him when Tri-clops talked to Skeletor.  I have a communicator built on my cyborg arm.  I'm attempting to send a signal out towards the ocean and I'm hoping he'll hear it," said Duncan as he continued to press buttons.

"This rebellion leader lives in the ocean?" asked Teela.

"Yesss he doesss…"

Rising from the water was a humanoid figure with dark green skin wielding a harpoon.

"Merman!" yelled Teela as she drew her pistol.  Many-faces gave a challenging roar as he stood beside her.  Both were surprised when Duncan stepped in front of them and raised his hands.

"Its ok!  This is the leader of the rebellion," said Duncan.  The two stared at Duncan then turned their gaze to Merman who gave them a grin with his sharp, deadly teeth.  


	6. Chapter 6 Warning! sexual content

Duncan couldn't blame them for appearing skeptical.Here he was stating that Merman was the leader of a rebellion that fought Skeletor.It seemed simply too unbelievable.

"Listen!I watched Tri-clops and Skeletor discuss the rebellion several times and talk about how Merman was its leader.Believe me when I say his Skeletor's enemy," said Duncan.He could remember how Skeletor would be enraged from Merman's betrayal.He could remember how Skeletor would sometimes take that rage out on him by making him writher in pain.Teela's voice jolted him from those painful memories.

"Father how do you know that you weren't simply tricked into thinking that Merman opposed Skeletor?" asked Teela.Many-faces nodded in agreement while keeping his inhuman eyes on Merman.Merman only stood there though and waited.

"I want you two to look more closely at the ocean.Take a very good look at it," said Duncan as he stepped aside.Teela appeared puzzled, but slowly approached the water.Many-faces followed while making sure to keep himself between Teela and Merman.Duncan noticed that Many-faces seemed very protective of Teela since they rescued him.He wasn't sure what to do about it though.He was just grateful his daughter returned.He'd worry about the men in her life later.

"Many does the ocean seem darker to you?I know it sounds crazy, but I'd swear it was well a darker shade of color," said Teela. She had studied the water for at least five minutes before speaking.Many-faces crouched down and sniffed the air.

"I smell oil, the water is contaminated with it," said Many-faces as he wrinkled his nose.

"Skeletor contaminated it," said Merman.Teela and Many-faces tensed when the amphibious man spoke. 

"His telling the truth.After Skeletor conquered Eternia, he plundered the natural resources as much as possible.He mined, cut the forests at incredible speed, and drilled for oil.This lead to huge oil spills being released into the ocean and also toxic waste being dumped into the waters as well.Skeletor was killing Merman's homeland," said Duncan.Those resources were being used right this minute to build weapons of massive destruction.

"Yesss, I joined Skeletor because he promised me that I would be king of the ocean.But its no good if there is nothing left alive in the ocean," said Merman.Then he did something very daring and stepped towards Many-faces and Teela.Neither moved, but both looked ready to defend themselves.Merman put out his hand and grinned again with those huge, ugly teeth of his.

"Your enemy is my enemy, truce?" asked Merman.For a second Duncan feared that Many-faces was going to attack Merman.He was practically snarling with the way he opened his mouth to show off his sharp fangs.He didn't have time to do anything though before Teela took a few steps forward and grabbed Merman's hand.

"Truce," said Teela simply as she shook the slimy, green hand that clasped hers.She turned to give Many-faces a glance, giving him a silent message to behave.Many-faces crossed his arms and stayed silent.It didn't look like he was going to attack Merman, but he did appear very annoyed.

The two pulled away with Merman nodding.He then raised his head and released an inhuman cry into the air.The three former Defenders and Obbo winced as the sound pierced their ears.In a few seconds more men who were with scales, fins, and gills rose from the ocean.There were half a dozen of them total.

"These are my men.How may we be of service?" asked Merman.His men were dressed in rusty armor and held weapons such as harpoons and swords.They were a mixture of amphibious men with blue and green scales.

"We need to free He-Man and we heard his being held at Snake Mountain.Can you get us inside Snake Mountain so we can free him?" asked Teela.Even though Duncan was the one who brought them here, it seemed that Teela decided to do the talking.That was just fine with Duncan though.He really wasn't surprised at Teela's take-charge attitude.Considering that she spent the last five years depending on only herself, she probably wasn't use to letting others handle a situation.

"Yesss, there is a tunnel in the ocean floor that goes underground and ends at Snake Mountain.It is how he had me come when I still served him," said Merman.

"How long would it take to travel through the tunnel?" asked Duncan.

"Two hours," said Merman while holding up two fingers.

"I don't think we'll be able to hold our breath for that long," said Teela.

"Yesss, I know a way though for you to stay under water longer.We will bring you a boat and travel to the place where the sea tunnel is," said Merman.Merman then turned to one of his men and began speaking in a strange language.It sounded like it was made up of clicks and hissing sounds.Teela turned to Duncan.

"Well Father I hope you're right about trusting him.I have a question for you, have you heard anything about Adam?Many said that Adam got away, but is probably in hiding.Do you know if that is true?" asked Teela.Duncan saw hope in her eyes at the thought of Adam being alive.Duncan hesitated before speaking.Teela had been furious about him keeping it a secret that the Sorceress was his mother.How would she react if she heard him say that He-Man was Adam and that he had been keeping that a secret as well?There didn't seem to be a point of keeping Adam's identity a secret now with Eternia conquered. It could though drive her to totally ignore him and have nothing to do with him if she believed he had betrayed her trust.Duncan couldn't stand that thought.She was all he had left now. 

"I have no idea if Adam is alive or not, but maybe He-Man will know," said Duncan.He wasn't able to bring himself to look into her eyes. 

The boat was made out of oak and had two oars.Merman instructed them to row the boat towards him and that he would swim towards the location of the tunnel.Many-faces took both oars and stated that he would do all the rowing once everyone was on board.Teela had a strong suspicion that he was trying to show off.

Meanwhile Duncan explained in more detail some of the good Merman did as 'rebel leader'.Apparently there were some Eternia citizens who openly opposed Skeletor's ruling.These people were hunted down and persecuted for defying Skeletor.Merman helped these people escape the city and hid them.

"Where exactly did Merman hide those people?" asked Teela as she took a bite out of her cucumber stick.It wasn't exactly tasty, but it was food.She kept finding herself looking over at Merman who swam gracefully in the water. A part of her still expected Merman to betray them, but for now she would try to trust him if her father said she could.

"I don't know, but Tri-clops theorized that Merman transported them to a remote islands," said Duncan.

"Uugghhh I hate this…"

The words were followed by a sick sound as Obbo vomited into the ocean water.

"The little guy doesn't seem to like the ocean," said Many-faces with a grin as he continued rowing.He had been rowing for an hour now and still didn't appear the least bit tired due to his monstrous strength.Teela couldn't help, but notice that he winked at her whenever she looked his way. 

"Obbo how can you get sea sick?You're floating so you can't even feel the motion of the boat with your feet," said Teela while rolling her eyes.The little guy could drink gallons of ale, but couldn't hold his stomach while floating in a boat.Now there was a surprise.

"I don't know!My stomach doesn't feel like following your logic babe," said Obbo as he clutched his belly.

"We are here."

The four of them turned to see Merman climb onto the boat.In his hand he held sack, which he opened.He dumped out the contents, which were purple squids only a foot long that began squirming on the ground.

"Um what are those for?" asked Teela.She hoped the guy didn't think they were going to eat raw squid as food.

"Tumther Squids.They will give you air to breath when they wrap themselves onto your face," said Merman.Teela couldn't stop the disgust that showed on her face.

"I remember hearing about these squids.Pearl divers used them to breath underwater," said Duncan as grabbed one.Teela wasn't sure she could bring herself to let something that slimy and disgusting grab onto her face.You'd think after getting use to battle wounds and blood that this would be easy for her.Suddenly she was hit with an idea.

"Obbo!Can you cast a spell to let us breath underwa-"

"Ooooohhh I hate my life! Rrrrruuaaa!"

"Never mind, I think we should probably leave Obbo here and my backpack as well.Father can your cyborg parts stand the water?" asked Teela.

"Don't worry Teela, I'm water proof," said Duncan as he gave his leg a pat.The hole he made in his leg was now repaired.It seemed his cyborg parts repaired themselves automatically.

"My men will stay here and escort the boat and your friend back to shore.Only I will be coming with you," said Merman.Teela wasn't sure whether to take his men not coming as a good or bad sign.On one hand it made it harder for him to betray them.On the other it might mean there was extreme danger he didn't want to expose his men to.

"How long will these squids supply air?" asked Duncan as he got ready to dive into the water. 

"Two hours, we will be cutting this close.Follow me and do not stray when we enter the water," said Merman as he prepared to dive in as well.Teela took off her backpack and grabbed her plasma pistol.She tucked it under her belt.Both her and Many-faces grabbed a squid.

"Obbo keep an eye on my backpack… and don't use it as a barf bag," said Teela.Then the four dived into the ocean's depths.

He-Man opened his eyes.He couldn't see the sky so he had no way of knowing whether he was sleeping at night and waking up at day time.He simply put his trust in letting his body decide when to sleep and stay awake.He was standing with chains attached to his wrists and ankles.He learned a long time ago to sleep while standing.

"Hey pass the ball over here!"

"Give it to me!Give it to me!"

A smile crept onto He-Man's face as he watched the children play.It was a strange sight to see the children so happy considering the fact that they were chained to the ground and had a looming giant boulder over them.That boulder would fall and crush their little bodies if He-Man so much as cracked one of his chains.Or so he has been told repeatedly by Lockjaw.During his weaker moments he wanted to just crack one of his chains a little just to test it.There was a chance that it was a giant lie just to keep him trapped here for four years.

"Now now He-Man, can't go risking children's lives," muttered He-Man with a sigh.

He'd like to claim that after all these years it was his ethics that still kept him from risking innocent lives.But in truth the one reason for why he didn't break the chains was to spite Skeletor.Skeletor repeatedly taunted and teased him at least once a month.Reminding him that all he had to do was sacrifice those children to set himself free.Skeletor had already taken away He-Man's home and parents.But that wasn't good enough, now he wanted He-Man to become corrupt.Maybe it was too late for him.Maybe he was already corrupt now.But he wasn't going to kill the children.He-Man wouldn't give Skeletor the satisfaction.

Unexpectedly his thoughts turned to Teela.It had been months since he thought about her.He tried to hold onto the memories of Teela before she left on that spaceship.He tried not to think about those others… memories.Those disturbing memories that seemed to squirm their way into his brain.Memories of how he failed Eternia.

Adam was bored as he walked through the forest.He found himself bored a lot lately.It had been a little over a year now since Teela left.No more Teela to play games with.No more Teela to tease until she suffered one of her temper tantrums.No more Teela just to look at…

"I miss you Teela," muttered Adam.You never know how much you value someone until they go away.Adam would have given up his sword to have Teela come back.Even though he wasn't sure of it, he thought that perhaps he even loved her.He was never in love with a girl before so he couldn't be positive.

Boooom!

The nearby explosion caused the ground to shake.Cringer collapsed onto the ground and placed his paws over his head.Adam could make out a giant cloud of black smoke that rose from the east.

"Looks like He-Man might be needed.By the Power of Grayskull!" shouted Adam as he pulled out his sword and raised it to the sky.A thunderbolt of energy came shooting from the sky and engulfed Prince Adam.In Adam's place was now He-Man the strongest warrior alive.

"I have the Power!" shouted He-Man as he pointed his sword towards Cringer.A bolt of power surged forth and struck Cringer, changing him into Battle Cat.

"Lets go Battle Cat," said He-Man.He jumped onto the tiger's back and soon Battle Cat was galloping through the forest towards the smoke.In a matter of minutes they reached the source of the smoke.It appeared to be a crashed spaceship and someone was climbing out of the cockpit.He-Man's eyes widened as he saw Teela.Her clothing was almost torn to shreds, but otherwise she looked ok.

"Teela," shouted He-Man with enthusiasm as he jumped off Battle Cat.Battle Cat though didn't seem as excited at seeing her.In fact he gave off a low growl.

"He-Man!Oh thank the Elders!" cried Teela as she approached him.Battle Cat jumped in front of He-Man while giving a roar.

"Battle Cat what's the matter with you?Has it been so long that you've forgotten what Teela looks like?" asked He-Man.He grabbed the green tiger and pulled him away from Teela.

"He-Man could you please send him away.I really can't handle growling tigers," said Teela in a shaky voice.She appeared extremely fragile.

"Battle Cat go!Don't come back until I call you!" ordered He-Man.Battle Cat hesitated a moment, but followed He-Man's command.He was soon out of sight.

"Oh He-Man!" cried Teela as she ran to him.Before He-Man knew what was happening, the woman was hugging him closely.

"Its ok now Teela, I'll protect you.I'm glad you returned to Eternia," said He-Man as he tried not to blush.Much of Teela's shirt and pants was torn away causing him to feel much more flesh than he normally did during a hug.That didn't prevent him though from wrapping his huge arms around her and holding her close.

"He-Man I have a confession to make.I came back here for you.You're the reason I came back," said Teela as she raised her face to his.Their lips were only inches apart and He-Man had a sudden urge to kiss those lovely lips of hers.He gritted his teeth and ignored the impulse.

"Teela.. I don't know what to say," said He-Man with mixed feelings.Secretly he hoped that Teela would come back for Adam not He-Man.But then again she did always seem to like He-Man more.He really shouldn't have been surprised that it was He-Man that brought her back.He was so lost in thought that he failed to notice Teela unbuckling his belt.It was only when he felt his loincloth fall to his ankles that he realized what happened.

"T..teela," stuttered He-Man as he stumbled back and fell.Teela fell on top of him and was stroking his cheek.He had dreams of something like this when he was asleep.Dreams of both him and Teela being naked and wet and touching each other.He never talked about them with anyone because he knew if Teela ever heard about them, she'd kill him.But now the fantasy dream was turning into reality.

"Please He-Man, I need you," whispered Teela.She seductively pulled off what remained of her shirt and pants, showing off her gorgeous naked body.

"Teela we can't do-hmph!"

He-Man didn't get a chance to continue as his mouth was violently attacked by hers.Before he could react, her tongue was entering his mouth and the sweet scent of her perfume entered his nostrils.He brought a hand onto her shoulder to pull her back, but instead found himself pulling her closer.Soon he rolled over and was on top of her.He felt light headed as he enjoyed squeezing her breasts.

"Enter me!" cried out Teela as she spread her legs.He-Man's dick was rock hard as he posed it between her legs.He didn't think about the consequences of what he was doing.He was beyond thinking now.All that was important was getting inside Teela.With a grunt he thrust inside her.It wasn't as tight as he thought it would be.

"Yes!" hissed Teela as He-Man thrust repeatedly into her.Her legs wrapped themselves around his huge waist as his massive tanned body began to sweat.He-Man had just barely enough control to make sure that he didn't use his full strength.He held back as best he could so he wouldn't injure her.

"Oh Teela…," moaned He-Man.She withered in pleasure under him as her body began to sweat as well.Her breasts heaved and jiggled.If He-Man was paying more attention he might have noticed how Teela's green eyes would sometimes turn violet.He was drowning in sexual pleasure at the moment though.


	7. Chapter 7 Warning! sexual content

Did some editing, but maybe you won't notice it.  Anyway keep up the reviews, they help my self-esteem and give me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

The sound of flesh slapping against flesh could be heard as He-Man continued thrusting.  His pace was increasing as he felt Teela pulling closer causing him to go deeper into her.

~He-Man… you… palace…~

As soon as He-Man heard the Sorceress's voice he shut it out.  Whatever she needed to say could wait until after he was done.

"Spill it!  Give me your seed!" cried Teela in a pleading voice.  He-Man's muscles bulged as he gave one last hard thrust inside her.  Teela's wail of joy could be heard before He-Man collapsed onto her.  He was completely spent and barely awake.

"Go to sleep He-Man," whispered Teela.  She stroked He-Man's golden hair and her eyes became a violet color again.

"Can't.. Sorceress wants me…," muttered He-Man though he made no move to get up.

"It can wait just a minute.  Just rest a minute," whispered Teela in a soothing voice.  Soon she heard He-Man's breathing deepen and knew that he was asleep.  The woman grinned as the illusion dropped away from her body to reveal Evil-Lyn.  She continued to stroke his hair as she muttered spells that would prevent the Sorceress from reaching his mind.  She made a gesture with her other hand and her magic staff floated up from the wreckage.  It floated towards her and she grabbed it with a smirk.  If one took a closer look at the wreckage of the 'spaceship', they would see that there was only a cockpit, a few metal sheets, and the leftovers of a bomb.  There were no controls, engine, or any advance parts to indicate a real spaceship.

The Sorceress glided as a falcon in the sky.  She could sense that He-Man was near the palace, but could not get a message to him.  Something was blocking her telepathy.  She would have to see what happened to him in person.  She allowed her mental abilities to guide her to where he was located.  As she neared He-Man, she sensed another presence as well.  It was Evil-Lyn, she must be the one preventing her from speaking with He-Man.

The Sorceress circled the air as she tried to detect the exact place where Evil-Lyn was.  When she was certain of where the witch was, she dived towards her.  She passed under tree branches and when she was only seconds away from seeing Evil-Lyn, turned human.  When she landed onto the ground, the Sorceress raised her falcon staff that glowed with golden energy to take aim at Evil-Lyn.  And when she spotted Evil-Lyn she dropped her staff in surprise.  

The Sorceress considered herself someone not easily surprised, but even she couldn't stop the shock she felt at the sight before her.

Evil-Lyn was naked under He-Man who was as well naked.  There was no question of what happen considering that He-Man was still inside Evil-Lyn.  In those few seconds the Sorceress simply could only stare, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.  Evil-Lyn took full advantage of that state of confusion.

Vroom!

The Sorceress had no time to bring up a defense before the purple thunderbolt hit her.  She was struck in the shoulder and sent flying against a tree trunk.  With a sick thud she lost consciousness from the impact.  Evil-Lyn kept her staff posed at the Sorceress's limp body.  Besides the burnt mark on her shoulder, she was still very much alive.

"If I kill you then there will now be no one in Eternia that could oppose Skeletor.  And if Skeletor learns the secrets of Grayskull he might become so strong that he will no longer need me," muttered Evil-Lyn.  She lowered her staff with a smirk.

It was hours before the Sorceress finally awakened.  Evil-Lyn and He-Man were gone.  It took only a moment for the Sorceress to realize that Skeletor had won the battle.  She could sense that the presence of the King and Queen was no more.  She could sense other Defenders being dead as well.  She could also sense the pain that the Defenders still alive suffered.  

The Sorceress raised her arms and became a falcon again.  As much as she wanted to fly to them and help them, she found herself instead flying towards Castle Grayskull.  With the fall of Eternia Palace, Skeletor would now head there.  The Sorceress could no longer depend on He-Man to defend the castle.  She had to figure out another means to protect it and quickly.

She was the Sorceress.  Her duty would always lay with Grayskull even if it were at the cost of leaving the kingdom to Skeletor.  The only loyalty that overrides the one to Grayskull was the loyalty for her daughter.  And that wasn't a factor since she was no longer on Eternia.

Teela was able to hold her breath for five minutes before she was forced to place the squid over her face.  The creature instinctively wrapped tentacles around her neck and head as it placed its mouth over hers.  It was tightly held against her mouth and as she reluctantly opened her lips she felt breathing air pass through her mouth.

Merman was swimming downward at a fast rate and Teela found herself pumping her legs and arms hard to stay with him.  The other former Defenders were doing the same with Duncan in the lead.  All those metal parts were giving him extra weight to help him go down it seemed.

Finally Teela was able to make out the ocean floor.  Her arms and legs were burning from the hard exercise and she found herself panting for breath even though she knew it drew more air from her supply.  When Merman reached the ocean floor, he pushed aside a boulder on the sandy ground to reveal a hole beneath it.  Then he pointed to the hole before entering it with ease.  

Duncan attempted to enter the hole next though he had some trouble since his armor made him bulky.  Teela found herself rubbing her sore muscles as she waited for Duncan to go through.  A cloud of sand floated above the hole as Duncan wiggled his way through.  With a dramatic gesture Many-face offered to allow Teela to go first.  Teela shook her head and pushed Many-faces towards the hole.  She knew she could get through that hole with no trouble, but she wasn't sure about Many-faces large body.  She wanted to make sure he could get through before she went.  Many-faces did have to push a bit to get through the hole, but he made it.  Teela quickly followed him and had no trouble getting through.

The tunnel was pitch black, but thankfully Duncan pressed a button on his arm and a panel opened on Duncan's chest to reveal a shining flashlight.  The tunnel was ten by ten feet.  Not exactly cramp, but Teela still felt a bit closed in.  Merman waited until Teela came through the hole before he began swimming again.  What Teela found really refreshing was that the water was turning warmer as they followed the rebel leader.  The land around Snake Mountain was covered with beds of lava so most likely the water tunnel was being warmed from going near them.

Teela moved her arms and legs in a rhythmic motion as she followed Many-faces who was ahead of her.  After about an hour she found herself bored.  After about an hour and a half she became nervous.  She knew that they should reach the end of the tunnel in half an hour.  But Merman also said her squid would run out of air in half an hour.  If there were any delays then she would be in trouble.

She paused when she saw something glittering on the ground.  She swam lower and saw that it was a shiny gold coin.  Well she was broke at the moment and could use the money.  She grabbed the gold coin and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that a wire was attached to it.  Suddenly a rock moved aside near Teela, revealing a canon of some sort.  Before Teela could react the canon released a black net that spread out like a spider web when fired.  Teela kicked her legs trying to get out of its path.  The net was too large though and once it hit her she found herself wrapped tightly inside the black net.  Teela tried to yell for help, but she could barely make a sound considering that they were underwater and she had a squid over her mouth.  She watched with horror as Many-faces continued to swim, oblivious of her situation.  Soon he was out of sight.

Teela quickly shook off her despair and began to wiggle.  All she had to do was get one hand free and she could use her pistol to free herself of the net.  She ignored the fact that she would probably run out of air before reaching the end of the tunnel even if she got free.  She could only handle one crisis at a time.  Maybe some good luck would come her way before she drowned.  Maybe next time she finds some gold coin lying around she'll leave it alone. 

Merman tightened his grip on his harpoon when he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  They had finally reached the exit and he had even gotten them through ten minutes before their squids ran out of air.  Though he doubt that they would be grateful.  But then he did try to kill them more than once in the past.  Back when he still worked for Skeletor.

Merman slowly raised his head out of the water.  The tunnel lead to a dark, barren room.  One of several that was in Snake Mountain.  When he saw no one he quickly pulled himself out of the water hole on the floor.  Duncan soon followed and after him Many-faces.  As soon as they were out of the water, the squids let go of their faces and dropped to the ground.  The three expectantly turned and waited for Teela to pop up.  After two minutes Duncan turned to Many-faces.

"Did you make sure she was following you?" asked Duncan.  There was an accusing tone to his voice.

"I.. no.. I assumed she was right behind me," muttered Many-faces looking ashamed.

"I will go back and see what is wrong," said Merman.  Her heard a sound of protest from Many-faces, but he had already dived into the water hole.

"Let him go find Teela.  He can swim much faster than you or me," said Duncan.  It wasn't an opinion, but a fact he was stating.

Merman was a much faster swimmer.  He moved through the tunnel with ease and grace as he thought about the woman.  Merman knew that she really didn't trust him yet.  She was probably half certain that he would betray them.  Duncan was the only one among them who seemed to trust him completely and that was only because he saw how Merman angered Skeletor.  Merman knew he had a long ways to go to prove to these people he was an ally, but he needed to do so for the sake of his home.

Merman didn't consider himself a hero, but he did consider himself a survivor.  And he had no chance of surviving if Skeletor continued to destroy the ocean life.  He needed these former Defenders and He-Man to stop him.  Then afterwards when Skeletor was defeated, he would become king of the ocean waters.

Merman's fish eyes widened when he saw Teela on the ground of the tunnel.  She was wrapped tightly with a net like a cocoon.  The squid she used to breath with had fallen off her face, running out of air.  She was still alive though because her eyes were open and she was still struggling.  Merman had to admire her for her persistence even when faced with certain death.

Merman grabbed her with one arm to hold her still then with the other he cut away at the net with his harpoon.  Soon Teela was free and gave a nod to him.  There was no way they were going to reach the end of the tunnel before she drowned.  Her face was already red from holding her breath.  There was only one way to save her.

"Open your mouth, I'll breath air down your throat," said Merman loud and clearly.  Puzzlement showed in her eyes until Merman gently held her cheeks with the palms of his hands.  Then he moved his large mouth towards hers.  The woman was quickly struggling and Merman was forced to release her.  Merman silently cursed her for her foolishness.  

"If you don't let me give you air, you will die," said Merman while putting emphasis on the word 'die'.  Teela stared at him with loathing, but reluctantly nodded.  Merman once again placed his hands on her cheeks being surprising gentle as he placed his lips over hers.  His green larger lips held tightly over hers as he released a breath of air.  Teela's mouth opened taking in the air.  It wasn't as pure as the air from the squid, but it would do until they reached the end of the tunnel.  

He placed an arm around her waist while keeping the other hand on her neck.  It appeared as if they were making out which caused Merman to almost chuckle.  He kicked his feet off the ground and began to swimming at a steady rhythm.  Teela was still giving him a murderous glare, which seemed strange considering that she was deepening the kiss for more air and placing her arms around his neck to tighten the embrace. 

The woman obviously didn't know how lucky she should consider herself to be to have Merman kiss her.  Several females of his own species fought among themselves to try to gain his affections.  They would be extremely jealous if they knew of what he was doing with Teela right now.

Merman soon caught sight of the end of the tunnel.  Merman suddenly felt mischievous and slowly moved her tongue against Teela's lips.  Teela's eyes widened in surprise and then glittered with anger.  She was certainly a spitfire.  Next he slithered his long red tongue into her mouth.  The inside of her mouth had a sweet taste to it that he enjoyed.  He soon found himself stroking her tongue with his own which was much warmer.  Teela didn't pull away, but she did move an arm from his neck and let her hand slide against his body.  

Merman stopped swimming towards the end of the tunnel while enjoying swirling his tongue inside her warm mouth.  That is until her hand got lower and she firmly grabbed his groin.  It wasn't the sort of grab that said she wanted him.  It was the sort of grab that said she would rip his manhood off if he didn't behave.  Merman quickly withdrew his tongue and began kicking his legs to swim up the tunnel.  Teela moved her hand away from his groin with amusement in her eyes.  It was a shame she was human.  She would have made a potential mate if part of his species.

He released his lips from her mouth when they were only a few feet from the surface of the water hole.  If Duncan and Many-faces saw him kissing their precious Teela they would rip him limb from limb no matter what the reason.  They broke the water surface with a splash.  Teela quickly pushed herself away from Merman and was helped up by Many-faces.

"Teela are you ok?" asked Many-faces while giving Merman a suspicious glare.  So much for gratitude.  Merman almost bristled at seeing Many-faces place an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, there was some kind of trap that I tripped when swimming through the tunnel," said Teela as she blushed.  It looked like she was struggling with anger and embarrassment as once.

"How did you breath when your squid ran out of air?" asked Duncan.  Merman casually pulled his harpoon off his back.  It looked like he was going to have to fight for his life soon.

"Oh my um squid had more than two hours of air.  It only ran out of air when we got with in sight of the end of the tunnel.  Guess I got luckily," said Teela as she nervously smiled.  It seemed she didn't want to share their tongue wrestling experience with the others.  Well that was just fine with Merman who wanted to live. 

Fish…

His tongue had tasted like raw fish.  His green lips were oily and slimy and scaly when they covered her mouth.  There was no question about it.  Merman had to die.  But she couldn't just openly kill him.  Then she'd have to explain what he had done.  Then she'd have to kill herself out of shame and embarrassment.

It would have to appear like an accident.  There were plenty of pits of lava in Snake Mountain one can accidentally fall into.  She would pretend to stumble and push his scaly ugly hide into one.  She could live with having Merman kiss her in order to save her life, but once he gave her tongue he had forfeited his life.  Yep, Merman was officially a dead fish walking.

"Teela did you hear me?"

"Huh, um could you repeat that," said Teela as she tried to ignore her thoughts urging her to commit murder.  The four of them were sitting on the floor watching a hologram map of Snake Mountain that was projected from Duncan's cyborg hand.

"I said that He-Man should be in this room according to Merman.  The guards will all be robots called Skeletroids that Tri-clops built.  I know because I saw Tri-clops build and ship them to Snake Mountain to guard He-Man," said Duncan as he pointed to large room that was a level below them on the map.

"Lets go get him then," said Teela as she drew out her pistol.  Ok she'll kill Merman after she saved He-Man.  The others got up and they exited the room.  It took all of Teela's will power not to shoot Merman when he gave her a smirk.  Oh yes he was so dead.

The four walked down the long corridor as silently as possible.  Teela kept her pistol poised ahead of her.  The only warning she had was the red lights ahead.  Then beams of energy hit the ground a few feet ahead of her.  The four of them quickly jumped behind a large stone pillar.  Its rocky surface was hit repeatedly with energy blasts.

"It's the Skeletroids," muttered Duncan.  Teela didn't say a word, but quickly peeked behind the pillar and began shooting with her pistol.  When an energy blast came within inches from her head she withdrew from the Skeletroid's vision.  They were humanoid robots with a wiry build and a metal skull for their head and red glowing eyes.  Both carrying energy rifles and they were very good with their aiming.  Teela had been able to hit one, but it appeared she barely dented it.  They were also coming closer.

"Teela how soon until they are within fifteen feet of us?" asked Duncan as he studied the pillar.  Teela paused before answering, doing a quick calculation from how fast they had been moving and how far away they were.

"I'd say a minute and forty-five seconds assuming they keep going at the same pace," said Teela.

"Many we're going to crack the bottom of this pillar and then push it towards the Skeletroids.  Hopefully it will crush them," said Duncan.

"Even I can't break and push a thing like this with my strength," said Many-faces as he stared up at the stone pillar.  Teela had to agree with him.  Probably only He-Man could do something like that by himself.  The stone pillar was eight feet wide and twenty feet tall.

"I think my cyborg arm will give us the extra boost we need," said Duncan with a grin as he flexed his robotic arm.  Many-faces nodded and both raised their fists to take aim.  The weapon firing began to get more constant as the Skeletroids came closer.

"Now!"

At Duncan's signal both fists became a blur as they hit the pillar.  The resounding sound of stone breaking could be heard as a huge crack encircled the stone pillar.

"Now push!" barked Duncan as he slammed both hands against the pillar.  Many-faces did the same while giving an animal like roar.  The stone pillar began to shake and within a few seconds it toppled downwards.  The Skeletroids had no hope for survival as they were slammed with tons of stone.  The steel skin of the robots crumbled as if it was paper as they were destroyed.

"I'm impressed," said Teela with a smile as she placed her pistol under her belt.  Secretly she was feeling just a bit inadequate.  First she got caught in a trap and next she stands by while her father and Many-faces take out the enemy.

"Those Skeletroids are difficult to face, but most of them are guarding the outside perimeter of Snake Mountain.  If we're lucky we won't run into more," said Duncan.  He began to lead the way down the corridor.

When Lockjaw was first told that he would be the one known as He-Man's Keeper he swelled with pride.  Out of all his minions Skeletor trusted him the most to watch over He-Man.  He soon found out though that Keeper was another word for babysitter.  While feeding He-Man and keeping an eye on him was part of his duty as Keeper.  His main duty to put it simply was to take care of the children that were used as hostages.  Skeletor wanted the children to be kept fit and healthy during their stay at Snake Mountain.  The children themselves were sons and daughters of the Eternia soldiers that opposed Skeletor.

Worst yet Lockjaw wasn't just suppose to make sure the children were healthy, he had to make sure they happy.  Happy!?  It seemed Skeletor wanted He-Man to see that he was killing happy, healthy children if he ever broke one of those chains that held him.  If the children were sick or miserable He-Man might be able to delude himself into thinking that death would be better for them.  Skeletor wanted to make sure he could never use such a delusion.  If He-Man ever snapped and killed those children, it would be at a time when those children didn't deserve death.

And so Lockjaw had the Skeletroids not only feed them and clean them, but he also had toys brought from Eternia to them.  The way their faces lit up when seeing Lockjaw come in with presents almost made Lockjaw want to free them.  Then there were those times they would turn into whining brats and he wanted to kill them all.

"Master Lockjaw, do you have time for a report."

Lockjaw grunted as he turned to the Skeletroid.  They were much smarter than your average robot, but still didn't make for great conversations.

"Yeah yeah report," growled Lockjaw.  Sometimes he wished he had human servants like the other minions and Skeletor.  But Skeletor didn't trust any human to be free and near He-Man.

"The trap set in sea tunnel had been activated according to the monitor computer," said the Skeletroid.  It took a few minutes for Lockjaw to figure out what the contraption was saying. A little over a year ago Skeletor had a trap set to capture Merman if he ever attempted to sneak into Snake Mountain through the sea tunnel. 

"So his in the sea tunnel right now?" asked Lockjaw.

"Negative, the net was torn and life form escaped," said the Skeletroid.  Lockjaw had a sudden temptation to bite the Skeletroid's head off.  He had actually done it a few times before when he felt hungry.

"What sort of life form did the trap capture?" asked Lockjaw.  It might have been Merman, but than again maybe it was just some large fish.

"The life form was a human female according to the trap's sensors," said the Skeletroid.  It clicked in Lockjaws mind then who this 'human female' had to be.  Skeletor already sent him a warning only a few hours ago about how Teela was seen on Eternia.  The woman must be trying to sneak into Snake Mountain to free He-Man.  And if she knew about the tunnel then that must mean that Merman was helping her.

"I need to go signal Skeletor.  Make sure that He-Man is guarded by at least four Skeletroids at all times.  If the human female is spotted, take her alive," said Lockjaw as he headed for the communications station.  It would be only a matter of time before his Skeletroids found Teela and then captured her.  Skeletor would want to hear about this so he could come in person to pick her up. 


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry Sorry!  Took a bit of time before I got this up.  Thanks again everyone for the reviews.  Ya just have to keep pestering me and eventually I get the work done.  Anyway don't own He-man characters and please R&R!

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"Excellent Lockjaw!  We will be there within the hour," said Skeletor before releasing the button on the control panel.  The room he was in had violet drapes that hung from every wall.  The room was circular with only a chair and desk in the center.  The only light emanating was from the buttons and a screen on the desk.  Tri-clops had installed an advance communication device on his desk so he may communicate with anyone in and out of the palace.  Skeletor pressed a few buttons and soon Evil-Lyn appeared on his screen.  Her hair was uncombed and her eyes were dark from lack of sleep.

"My apologies Evil-Lyn, did I disturb your beauty sleep?" asked Skeletor snidely.  He had the pleasure of seeing her face tense.

"Well Skeletor since someone apparently blasted the nanny into ashes, I've been forced to feed and bath Alexander myself.  Also the boy keeps crying and asking for the old hag," said Evil-Lyn.  Though it was obvious that she valued her son, she preferred to spend very little time with the boy.  Evil-Lyn simply had no taste for motherhood.  Let the paid servants raise him was her philosophy.

"My apologies Evil-Lyn.  I have news that may cheer you up though.  It seems that Teela has been spotted at Snake Mountain and there is only a matter of time before Lockjaw captures her," said Skeletor.  That is assuming the bag of bolts didn't end up screwing up.  It had been a while since Skeletor had to depend on him.

"Truly Skeletor?  I can't wait to see her," said Evil-Lyn with a sinister smile.

"Yes, I want you to get the others and we will all be going to Snake Mountain to see the girl," said Skeletor.  Evil-Lyn stared at him startled.

"You mean you want me to get everyone?  Such as Beastman, Tri-clops-"

"Yes, yes all of them.  Use your sorcery to make sure they all get the message to come," interrupted Skeletor.  It was the first time in years that all of Skeletor's minions would be reuniting.  Skeletor hadn't bothered to use his minions for quite a while since he had the Skeletroids and human guards.  Evil-Lyn's eyes flashed with clarity.

"I see now, you're afraid that Teela might succeed at freeing He-Man.  And you want us all there to stop him if he does get free," said Evil-Lyn.

"Keep your mouth shut and follow my orders Evil-Lyn," said Skeletor coldly.  The woman made it sound like he was actually afraid of He-Man.  How dare she forget her place.  She was making the mistake of thinking that she was his equal.

"A thousand apologies oh powerful Skeletor.  I'll have a guard watch Alexander for the night and then gather the others.  We can take Beastman's griffins to Snake Mountain," said Evil-Lyn before the transmission was cut off.

While Skeletor waited for his minions to come to the palace, his thoughts strayed to Teela.  He couldn't wait to get his hands on this one time teenage Defender who was now a woman.

"All we need to do is make a right at the end of this corridor and then we should be able to spot He-Man in the next room," whispered Duncan with anticipation.  Many-faces stopped abruptly and gave off a low growl.  The others paused and turned towards him.

"I can smell He-Man's scent from here, but I also smell other scents.  There's the scent of oil that those Skeletroids before had," growled Many-faces.

"I guess it wasn't realistic to think that there would be no Skeletroids guarding He-Man," said Teela with a sigh.  Duncan rubbed his chin as he stared ahead.  Suddenly he snapped his finger.  He turned back and walked about twenty feet before stopping at a side passage on the corridor wall.

"Teela I want you to hide in this side passage.  Us three will get the Skeletroids attention and draw them away from here.  Once you see us pass you, go find He-Man and try to free him," said Duncan.  The thought of her meeting He-Man first took her by surprise.  How would he react to seeing her?  Would he even recognize her?  

"Father are you sure you don't want to be the one to stay behind and free him?" asked Teela.  It just didn't seem right for her to be the one to free He-Man.  For some reason she felt like it should be someone who knew him better.  Truth be told while she wanted to claim He-Man as a friend, she had barely known anything about the man. 

"I honestly believe that you would be the best person to free He-Man," said Duncan while refusing to look her in the eye.    Teela had a sudden suspicion that he was hiding something, but suppressed that feeling.  Now was not the time to doubt her father.

"Ok Father, you guys be careful," said Teela as she opened up her arms and gave him a hug.  Duncan was taken by surprise, but soon he had his arms around her as well.  Teela didn't consider herself an affectionate person.  But five years of lonely wandering had caused her to miss the simple affections such as hugs no matter how sappy it was to do so.  After a second she pushed away.  

She turned to find Many-faces wrapping his large arms around her waist and lifting her off the ground.  Before she could react, he was nuzzling her neck while holding her tightly against him.

"Um Many," muttered Teela as she began to blush.  She hated it when she blushed.  

"Just let me enjoy your scent for a second Teela," whispered Many-faces.  True to his word, he took in a deep breath as he continued to nuzzle her.  Finally he released her and she found herself stumbling away.  She turned to face Merman who was smirking.  Teela returned the smirk with a sweet smile.

"As for you, I hope the Skeletroids fry you," said Teela before waving.  Then she entered the side passage.  She moved further and further down the side passage until she could just barely make out the corridor.  She was now encompassed in shadows and was certain that no Skeletroids would spot her.  Now came the hard part of the plan… waiting.

And so she waited and each minute seemed like an hour.  Patience wasn't one of her greatest strengths.  Finally after what seemed like eternity, she saw flashes of light that were caused by energy beams.  She could also just barely hear the sound of footsteps.  Figures passed by the passage in a blur.  After about five minutes when the firing and footsteps disappeared, she quickly ran back to the corridor.  She turned right down the corridor and made another right.  Her whole body froze after making that turn.  

Her imagination had run wild when thinking about how they held He-Man for four years.  She imagined some sort of forcefield cage built by Tri-clops or perhaps magical manacles enchanted by Evil-Lyn.  Instead she found herself seeing a He-Man who was simply chained to the wall.  Chains was attached to his legs and wrists.  The chains didn't glow with powerful magics though and actually looked pretty flimsy.  The children who were playing under a giant boulder gave Teela a clue of what kept He-Man from escaping.  The boulder was hanging in the air by a chain that ran up to a hole in the ceiling.  If that boulder was ever released, it could easily crush the dozen of children chained to the floor.  The children themselves actually didn't look too bad off.  They had blankets and pillows and appeared healthy from what Teela could see.  She almost decided to go free the children first, but instead began walking towards He-Man to talk to him.  It had been so long since she saw the man that she just couldn't bring herself to postpone talking to him no matter what the reason.  The children stopped their talking and turned to stare at her.  None of them said a word as she approached He-Man. 

"He-Man can you hear me?" asked Teela softly as she approached the former champion of Eternia.  Physically even after four years of being imprisoned, he still appeared to be the most formidable warrior she has ever seen.  His tan muscles were still huge and impressive.  His hair was still a golden blond.  The one difference was that he now had a beard that flowed down to his broad chest making him look much older.  Teela was relieved to see that his body hadn't wasted away, but was as strong as ever.

His eyes were on the floor and he showed no indication of hearing her question.  But when she stepped closer to him, his head snapped up.  Teela stopped, not quite sure what to do as he gazed at her.  At first he appeared confused, but then he looked at her with absolutely wonder.  That look of wonder quickly vanished though and was quickly replaced by rage.  Teela was so surprised by the glare of hate he gave her that she took a step back.

"Oh that was a funny trick to play on me," muttered He-Man.  Teela shivered as she heard the tone of voice.  He spoke with a combination of sarcasm and loathing.  She had never before heard He-Man speak in that fashion.  Back during her Defender days, she never even heard him sound that hateful towards Skeletor.

"He-Man I.. I'm here to rescue you.  I came back to Eternia," said Teela nervously.  After all these years was he angry that she left?  

"Save it Evil-Lyn, do you really think I'd be fooled twice?  Do you really think that I would be that STUPID!" roared He-Man as the chains that bind him tensed.  If he just pulled a little bit harder he would break them.  Teela knew that she couldn't let him break those chains.  

"Evil-Lyn?!  What are you talking about?" asked Teela.  The hate in his blue eyes scared her to death.  Why was he calling her Evil-Lyn?  Suddenly she began to wonder if maybe he had gone insane.  Perhaps the years of imprisonment had driven him crazy.  The children behind her began to whisper among themselves. 

"You know no matter how much I wanted to break these chains and strangle Skeletor I stopped myself.  I wasn't going to let him turn me into a child killer no matter how much he taunted me.  But I think I must have finally reached my limit Evil-Lyn.  I'm going to have to kill you for trying to do this to me again you bitch.  Did you think I was going to give you a good fuck?  Maybe I'll go to hell if I let that boulder fall, but I'll take you w-"

THWAP!

The punch sent He-Man's head whipping back.  Teela's fist had been driven right into his cheek.

"Shut… up…," whispered Teela while clutching her hand.  Her hand felt sore from the blow.  He-Man had a jaw of steel.  Thankfully he actually did what she said and had shut up.  He simply stared at her once again in confusion.

"I don't know why you're calling me Evil-Lyn.  I don't why you're threatening to kill CHILDREN!  Just know this, if you make a single move to break those chains I'm going to blow your damn head off," said Teela as she drew her pistol.  Her hand began to shake as she unsteadily held the pistol towards him.  She wanted so badly to pretend she hadn't heard what he said.  But she couldn't do that.  She had to face that fact that the He-Man she knew was dead.

Her He-Man would never have called her a bitch or threaten to kill children.  The man she knew as He-Man was dead and she had to come to accept that.  Orko.. Mekaneck.. and now He-Man..  She felt like her heart was being torn apart bit by bit.

"Teela is it really you?" asked He-Man.  The hate was gone from his voice.  Now he was peering at her while showing a spark of hope in his eyes.

"I said shut up!  I'm going to free these kids first and then we can talk.  Don't forget what I said about blowing your brains out if you move," said Teela.  Her voice almost cracked at the end of the sentence.  Here she was threatening to kill He-Man with her flimsy pistol.  She actually felt like laughing.  That wasn't a good sign.

She turned to the children who appeared terrified.  Evidently the sight of He-Man and her shouting had scared them to death.  She swallowed and raised her pistol.

"I'm going to break your chains.  Stand absolutely still," said Teela gently.  A few of the children nodded, but none said a word.  Then with precise aiming she fired at the chains that held the children to the floor.  Sparks flew through the air as the chain broke.  At that moment Teela had a sudden fear that the boulder was rig to fall if the children's chains were broken.  It caused her to pause and look up.  The boulder hadn't lowered an inch since she broke that chain and Teela felt extreme relief.  Then she lowered her pistol and began firing again.

Most of the children instantly ran away about forty feet so they were no longer under the boulder.  But one girl who looked to be twelve still sat under the boulder even with her chains broken.  A tear came down her cheek as she began to sniffle.

"Honey, you should get away from the boulder," said Teela softly as she walked towards the girl.  She knelt down and gave the girl a tug on the arm, but she refused to move.  Teela sighed frustrated.  She wasn't used to dealing with kids.  

"Lockjaw said he'd eat me with his metal jaw if I moved," whispered the girl with fright.  She kept glancing at the doorway.

"I won't let that happen.  I'm here to rescue you," said Teela as she gave the girl's shoulder a squeeze.  Suddenly the girl turned and wrapped her arms around Teela's waist.  Teela awkwardly returned the hug.

"Its time to get you out of here," said Teela as she ruffled the girl's hair.  The girl reluctantly let go and ran towards the other children.  Teela was about to follow when something caused her to pause.  There almost hidden among the blankets and pillows was the Sword of Power.  It was stabbed deeply into the floor with only a few inches of its blade showing.  Teela glance over at He-Man who was still staring at her.

Teela was very aware then that He-Man could break his chains and kill her with the boulder.  She couldn't stop that thought from coming after hearing the things he had said.  She had an impulse to begin running away from the shadow of the boulder that covered her.  She ignored the impulse though and instead turned her attention back to the sword.  She grabbed the hilt with both hands and with a grunt pulled.  The children had no hope of pulling the sword out, but Teela was pretty sure she had a good chance to do so.  She didn't have monster strength like Many-faces, but she wasn't any weakling either.  A few more inches of the blade pulled up due to her efforts.  She continued pulling and every few minutes the sword came up a little more.  Finally she pulled it out of the ground and dramatically posed it up in the air.

He-Man couldn't help, but find the pose that Teela took with the Sword of Power familiar.  He almost expected to hear her say 'By the Power of Grayskull!'.

That is if it is Teela…  

He-Man ignored that voice in his mind telling him that this had to be Evil-Lyn again tricking him.  If Evil-Lyn wanted to seduce him again, punching him in the face wasn't her way of doing it.  And Evil-Lyn would never, no matter the disguise, act so kind to a little girl.  It had to be Teela, the real Teela.  It simply had to be.

And you just called her bitch…

He-Man gritted his teeth as he thought about the words he previously said to her.  She probably thought he had gone mad or something.  Not only that, but he was also sure that he hurt her with those words.  After nearly breaking his jaw she looked like she was about to fall apart.  Her body and voice shook as she threatened to blow his 'damn head off'.

"Here's your sword," said Teela as she tossed the Sword of Power next to his feet.  Her voice had a hard edge to it.

"Teela I didn't-"

"You can break your chains," interrupted Teela.  She kept looking over at the children and refused to meet his gaze.  He-Man stared down at his chains.  Now was his chance to finally be free.

Unless it's all a trick…  Maybe Evil-Lyn is just making an illusion to make you think the children are free…

He-Man wanted to banish the voice of doubt from his mind, but he couldn't.  It would just be like Evil-Lyn to trick him into killing those children.  But he was so certain that this was his Teela.

"Teela before I break my chains I need you to do something for me," said He-Man while wishing desperately that he could take back all the cruel things he had said to her.

"What do you want now He-Man?" asked Teela.  She finally met his gaze while crossing her arms over her chest.

"I need you to come closer Teela.  Please Teela?" asked He-Man.  There was a note of desperation in his voice.  Teela nodded slowly and took a few steps closer to him.

"Closer," stated He-Man as he continued to stare into her eyes.  Teela moved a few more feet and was now a foot away.  Before she could say a word, He-Man grabbed her waist and easily lifted her so her face was only inches from his own.

"He-Man let go of me," whispered Teela as she placed her hands under his beard, against his broad chest.  It felt so good to finally feel her touch again that He-Man almost shivered with delight.  Instead though he continued to stare into her emerald green eyes.  Those green eyes were filled with anger and defiance.  And not once did they turn violet.

"You have the most beautiful eyes," whispered He-Man as he traced a finger along her cheek.  Teela's cheeks began to turn red and she shoved away from him hard.  He-Man could have held her against her will, but let her go instead even though he truly didn't want to.

"Look I don't know what is wrong with you.  Honestly I don't think I want to know what's wrong with you.  But right now I need to get you and these kids out of Snake Mountain," said Teela.  She gestured towards the children who were once again whispering among themselves.  That was the Teela he knew all right.  Deal with the job first then with emotional problems.

"You're right, lets get out of here," said He-Man.  Then with a snap he broke the chains on his arms and legs.

BOOOOMMMMM!

The ground shook as the boulder impacted with the stone floor.  The children covered their ears as the thundering sound filled the chamber.

"You know, I would have been very upset if that boulder hadn't fallen.  It would have meant that Skeletor kept me here all these years with a bluff," said He-Man as he rubbed his wrists.  Then he bent down and picked up the Sword of Power.  He had only one thought in his mind at the moment.  To make Skeletor pay for the suffering he caused.

Energy beams lit up the corridor as the trio continued their retreat.  Every instinct told Many-faces that he should turn and tear those four Skeletroids limb from limb.  Unfortunately there was no way he would be able to get close enough to do so before they turned him into ashes with those rifles.

"Where are we going?" growled Many-faces as he did another leap to avoid an energy beam that came within inches of his leg.

"Back to the water tunnel," said Duncan.  Water Tunnel?  Go back and leave Snake Mountain without Teela?

"I won't abandon Teela!" said Many-faces as his crimson eyes focused on Duncan.  Duncan gave him an annoyed glance.

"I wasn't suggesting that we leave my daughter here.  I just remembered a flaw in the Skeletroids structures that I found when helping Tri-clops build them," said Duncan.

"And what is that?" asked Many-faces.  Judging from their position Many-faces would guess that they would have ten minutes before they reached the water tunnel.

"They aren't water proof like me," said Duncan.  Then he gave a glance to Merman whose eyes lit up.  

"Yesss, I see now.  I know what to do," said Merman with a nod.  Many-faces had a feeling that the two had come up with a plan of action, but he didn't have time to find out what it was.  The Skeletroids were getting closer with their shots.  He knew he shouldn't have doubted Duncan, but he was feeling even more edgy than usual.

Teela was back there alone with He-Man.  The man everyone knew she had a crush on back when she was a teenager.  The man who failed them all when it came to protecting Eternia.

She certainly will prefer his handsome face to mine.

Many-faces growled as he imagined Teela dashing into his arms and kissing him.  For all her protests, Many-faces knew he wasn't a pretty sight.  He was a monster who for the last few years had fought like an animal in the pit.  But if he couldn't get her with human charm, then he would obtain her with beastly fury.  He will fight He-Man and any other man who took an interest in her until they knew for certain that she was his.  Teela of course would be furious with him.  But eventually come to see that he loved her and would adore her like no other would.

"We're almost there.  Merman you know what to do," said Duncan.  The door to the room with the water hole was in sight.

"Yesss," hissed Merman.  Many-faces realized right then that they were going to trust their life with this disgusting fish.  He was probably better off charging the Skeletroids after all.  As soon as they entered the room, Merman ran to the water hole and dived in.  Duncan grabbed Many-faces's arm and pulled him to the far wall.

"Now what?" muttered Many-faces as he stared at the door.  Any second now four Skeletroids were going to come through there.

"Now we wait," said Duncan simply.  Many-faces's whole body became tense as he prepared to attack the Skeletroids.

Just as he predicted the four Skeletroids ran through the doorway and paused.

"Human female is not among them.  Terminate them," said one of the Skeletroids as they raised their rifles.

"Now!" 

Duncan's shout caused Merman to burst forth from the water hole with a loud splash.  Before the Skeletroids could turn their rifles, Merman opened his mouth and a stream of intense water shot forth from his large lips.  The stream of water hit the first Skeletroid and knocked it over.  Sparks flew from its body as the salty water got in its circuitry.  With a quick twist of his head Merman's stream of water splashed against the other Skeletroids.  It was as if he was a human hose.

All four Skeletroids now had sparks jumping off their metallic bodies and collapsed to the ground.  Merman stopped spitting water and gave the two a wide grin with his sharp teeth.

"Well I guess he did ok considering he spit them to death," said Many-faces.  Duncan simply chuckled. 


	9. Chapter 9

Well here it is.  Apologies in advance for any grammar problems and such!  Also please keep on reviewing!  And thanks for the reviews you gave so far!  Especially the one about it being good enough to be a novel.J

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With a fierce cry the griffin swooped down and landed on the platform.  Skeletor dismounted with ease and stretched his blue muscular body.

"Lord Skeletor welcome back to Snake Mountain," said Lockjaw as he nervously bowed.  Skeletor resisted the urge to blast him right then and there with his Havoc staff.  It was easy to read Lockjaw's body language to tell whether he succeeded or failed at a task.  The way he refused to look at him and kept his head bowed told Skeletor that he hadn't captured Teela yet.

Skeletor didn't bother to respond to his greeting.  Instead he looked around to study his fighters.  It had been a long time since they had all been in one place.  If Skeletor was a bit more sentimental he might have actually found it touching that they were all together again.  There was Evil-Lyn looking bored as she leaned on her staff.  Tri-clops pressing buttons on his wristband.  Beastman who sent the griffins away with a snap of his whip.  Clawful and Whiplash giving each other pats on the back and greetings.  The only one missing was that traitorous Merman.  

Skeletor could feel the rage within him burning as he thought about that fish man.  He helped a huge number of prisoners that Skeletor was going to have executed escape the city.  How dare he think that he could defy the new king of Eternia.  He wasn't a real threat of course, but it made Skeletor grind his teeth to think that even now there were those who would dare go against him.  If he ever got his hands on Merman then he would enjoy slowly torturing him.

"Have you captured Teela yet Lockjaw?" asked Skeletor even though he knew the answer.  He just simply enjoyed watching Lockjaw squirm.

"I.. um.. no Skeletor, but Skeletroids patrol every passage of Snake Mountain.  I'm sure they'll find her soon," stuttered Lockjaw.  He took a step back with fear in his yellow eyes.

"Master Lockjaw I have an important report for you."

Everyone turned to see that a Skeletroid had just walked onto the platform.  Lockjaw's eyes lit up as he saw the Skeletroid approach.

"You found the female?" asked Lockjaw eagerly.

"Negative, I came to report that the four Skeletroids that were guarding He-Man had been destroyed," said the Skeletroid.  Lockjaw took another step back away from Skeletor as he turned to see his response.  Skeletor rubbed his bony forehead.  He was beginning to remember why he didn't depend on these idiots anymore for his tasks.

"Looks like Teela just helped He-Man escape right under your nose Lockjaw," said Evil-Lyn with a wicked smile.

"It isn't my fault!  Its these stupid tin cans that are at fault!" growled Lockjaw before punching the Skeletroid in the face.  Other than to take a step back, it didn't respond.

"Don't blame my creation for your mess ups," said Tri-clops as he drew his sword out.

"Enough!"

Everyone became deathly silent.  Skeletor's eyes glowed red as he glared at each and every one of them.

"I suppose we can now assume that He-Man is free.  Teela also freed Many-faces and Duncan back at the city.  That, including Merman, means that there are now five of them.  Most likely they'll try to find a way to escape Snake Mountain now that they freed He-Man.  Lockjaw have the Skeletroids guard every exit including the water hole they had come from.  Tri-clops I assume you brought your Doomseekers?" asked Skeletor.  The inventor always had those floating robots nearby.

"Yes Skeletor," said Tri-clops and with a press of a button he had four Doomseekers floating behind him.

"Good!  Have the Doomseekers go through every corridor and room to find those five.  We shall wait in the torture chamber until your Doomseekers find them," said Skeletor.  The others followed as he walked down the stairs off the platform.  Every month he came here to insult He-Man and encourage him to let those children be crushed to death.  He himself specifically designed that sick, twisted trap.  When Evil-Lyn brought him He-Man asleep, Skeletor had almost decided to kill him.  But then decided that death would be too merciful.  He had wanted He-Man to suffer a much worst fate for fouling all of his attempts of getting into Grayskull.  And it was then he realized that he would get his revenge by turning He-Man into the one thing he loathed.  A murderer…  A murderer of children to be more exact.  Now though it wasn't possible.

"I suppose I'll just have to kill him," muttered Skeletor with a sigh as he entered Snake Mountain.

"So did you come here all by yourself to rescue me?" asked He-Man while giving her a friendly smile.  Teela returned the smile, but he could read the uneasiness in her eyes.  He couldn't really blame her.  He was practically raving when he started calling her Evil-Lyn.  A part of him wanted to tell her all of it.  How Evil-Lyn used an illusion of her to seduce him.  How it wasn't due to a battle that he was beaten, but his own lust that caused him to lose.  He wanted to tell her a lot of things.

But another part of him imagined how disgusted she could be to find out what he did with Evil-Lyn no matter what the reason.  He wouldn't blame her for condemning him for doing such a thing.  He condemned himself everyday since he was captured.

"Actually she had help He-Man."

The two turned to see Duncan, Many-faces, and Merman at the doorway.  It was the sight of Merman that caused He-Man to raise his sword in a defensive position.  Even though it had been years since he handled the sword, it still felt like second nature to wield it.

"Merman turned against Skeletor.  He's our ally now He-Man," said Teela hastily as she stepped in front of him.  He-Man moved his gaze from Teela to Merman.  The dark green man swallowed and gave a shaky wave.

"If you say so Teela," said He-Man before sheathing his sword.  It was going to take some work, but he was determined to win her trust again.  And if that meant calling Merman an ally then so be it.  Teela gave a sigh of relief before turning to the others.

"I'm glad to see you found both He-Man and the Sword of Power.  Not to mention saved those children," said Duncan.  He smiled as he glanced over at the children.  They didn't say a word, but silently watched the exchange.  He-Man noticed the lens eye, but decided to not comment on it.  Duncan had an energy rifle slung over his shoulder that he had taken from one of the Skeletroids they destroyed.

"I found the sword with the children under the boulder.  I found that kind of strange," said Teela.

"It was Skeletor's way of taunting me.  He wanted to show how even with my weapon so nearby, it couldn't do me any good," said He-Man.  Skeletor had quite an imagination when it came to ridiculing him.

"So why didn't you show up?" asked Many-faces.  There was no need to elaborate on what he was asking.  He-Man could read the accusation in his crimson eyes.  Duncan frowned, but didn't say anything.  Merman took a step back away from Many-faces.  It was Teela's gaze that made him decide to answer.  She appeared purely curious.  There was no hate or accusation in her emerald eyes.  But if he didn't answer then there could be.

"Evil-Lyn used an illusion to make herself appear as Teela.  I let my guard down and she was able to take me by complete surprise.  I didn't have a chance of defending myself before it was too late," said He-Man with bitterness.  It was the truth if not a very detailed truth.  Hopefully they would never find out more than that. 

"That's why you were calling me Evil-Lyn wasn't it?  You thought I was her trying to deceive you again," said Teela.  Her voice was filled with relief as things began to make more sense to her.    

"Yes, I'm sorry I shouted at you and for threatening to… let that boulder fall.  It was just too much for me that she would try to trick me again.  Teela please forgive me," said He-Man as he placed his large hands onto her slim shoulders.  He could hear Many-faces growling, but ignored the sound.  He kept his gaze firmly onto Teela.  Teela smiled again, this time a genuine smile.

"There's nothing to forgive.  After everything you've been through, I can't blame you for acting that way," said Teela.  He-Man fought the impulse to pull her closer.  Instead he gave her shoulders a squeeze before removing his hands.

"I think its time we exit this place before anymore trouble comes along," said Duncan as he stepped forward.  No one raised an objection.

"Teela you stay here and watch the children.  The rest of us will split up and try to find a safe exit out of here," said Duncan.

"You expect me to baby-sit?" asked Teela with a raised eyebrow.  The irritation in her voice made it evident that she wasn't pleased.  Silently He-Man supported Man-at-arms decision.  It would be much less dangerous for her to stay here then to come with them.

"Teela I think out of all of us you would be best to watch them.  Our appearances are a bit more intimidating," said Duncan with a gesture.  Admittedly cyborgs and fish men would probably not put the children at ease.  But Teela wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Oh and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm the only woman here," said Teela as she crossed her arms.

"Well if you must know I do think they'd be more calm with someone that they could see as a mother figure," said Duncan.  It wasn't the best response to give.  Teela's eyes flashed with anger.  Denial would probably have been the better choice.

"Father I am not going to stay here just because you think women should be the ones to watch children!" exclaimed Teela outraged.  He-Man almost grinned as he watched her temper rise.  He had missed watching her have those temper tantrums.

"Fine, we'll be fair about this and put it to a vote.  Everyone who votes for Teela to stay here raise his hand," said Duncan as he raised his hand.  He-Man, Merman, and Many-faces raised their hands as well after a second.  Teela gave them all a scornful glare.

"Fine!  And I hope the Skeletroids kick your butts," said Teela with a huff.  Then she turned her back to them and walked towards the children. 

It was unfair.  It was beyond unfair it was disgusting.  What right did her father and the others have to stick her with watching the kids?  She didn't even know how to handle kids.

Teela paced back and forth muttering curses about the male species.  The children thankfully didn't make too much trouble and just continued whispering among themselves.  While she would admit that they did look adorable that didn't mean she wanted to be the one left behind.

Her thoughts suddenly turned to He-Man.  Hearing about how Evil-Lyn tricked him with an illusion of her made her blood boil.  But at the same time it brought about another wave of relief.  He-Man hadn't gone insane like she first suspected.  He had just mistaken her for Evil-Lyn with an illusion.  And after all his been through, of course he would explode like that.  It was understandable that he had insulted her.  It was understandable that he threatened to break those chains.  Just because he threatened to do so didn't mean he really would have though.

But what if it was more than just a threat?  What if he was really going to break those chains if you hadn't punched him….?

"Of course he wasn't going to," muttered Teela as she continued to pace.  She wasn't going to insult him by asking if he would either.  People said all sorts of crazy things under stress.  He-Man was as good a person now as he was five years ago.  And she wasn't going to let herself think otherwise.

"Miss Teela?  I think I'm in trouble."

Teela turned and her green eyes widened.  One of the young boys had a Doomseeker floating right above his head.  It had floated down quickly from the ceiling before anyone could cry out a warning.  The other children backed away fearfully.  Silently Teela cursed herself as she slowly reached for her pistol.  She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't notice the Doomseeker sneak into the room.

"I wouldn't do that my dear."

The voice that came from the Doomseeker sent a shiver through Teela's body.  It had been years since she had heard Skeletor's voice.  That snide, acting superior voice that haunted Teela's worst memories.

"Even if you were able to shoot this Doomseeker before it harmed the child, the explosion from its destruction would still kill this boy."

Teela stopped reaching for her pistol while giving a nod.  He was right no matter how much she didn't want to admit it.  If she hit the Doomseeker it could very well explode and it was only inches from the boy below it.  The boy himself had stood completely still while looking so scared that it appeared he might wet himself soon.

"What do you want Skeletor?" asked Teela as she slowly took a few steps forward.  If she could get close enough, she could give the Doomseeker a flying kick to send it away from the boy.

"Not another step my dear or this boy's head will be blasted away."

The boy whimpered with fright while Teela stopped moving.  It seemed he wasn't going to take any chances with her.

"Very good my dear.  Now I want you to listen very carefully.  I'm going to give you directions to get to me.  And if I'm kept waiting then I may become upset and hurt this poor boy."

"Just have your Doomseeker lead me to where you want to go," said Teela.  Her gaze never left the flying robot.

"And lose such a nice hostage?"

"Its been a while Skeletor, but I still remember your charming personality.  You'll fry this kid as soon as I leave just for fun.  Besides I think I'll be the only hostage you need," said Teela.  She knew that negotiating was dangerous, but she couldn't let Skeletor keep this Doomseeker here.  One reason was he might very well kill the boy when she left.  Another reason was that he could hold the children hostage when He-Man and the others came back.  At least this way they only had her as a captive.  Laughter could be heard from the Doomseeker.

"Oh its nice to see that you haven't forgotten me Teela.  But how do I know you won't try to escape if I leave the boy be?"

"I give my word that I'll follow your Doomseeker to where ever you have it lead me.  I won't try to escape and get help," said Teela as sincerely as she could.  There was a minute of silence.

"Very well Teela.  I'll expect you to keep your word."

Teela gave the children a reassuring smile before following the Doomseeker that flew out of the room.  She kept her word and followed the Doomseeker without making any attempt at running away.  Maybe she wasn't a Defender anymore who fought for principles of truth and justice.  But she was still a woman who kept her word.

"We found the north gate guarded by a dozen Skeletroids.  Any luck on your side?" asked Duncan.  The four of them met in the corridor.  They had split up into two teams.  He-Man and Merman had explored the south exit.  While Man-at-arms and Many-faces explored the north exit.

"The south gate had at least a dozen Skeletroids guarding it as well.  I could defeat them though," said He-Man as he gripped the hilt of his sword.  Many-faces snorted, but didn't say anything.  He-Man could still see the anger in his crimson eyes when he glanced at him.  He still blamed He-Man for failing to protect Eternia it seemed.  He deserved Many-faces's distrust and anger though for his failure.  Perhaps one day though he will earn his forgiveness.

That was probably the reason he was partnered with Merman.  Him and Merman had spied out the south gate without any trouble.  It was actually funny in a way.  Merman, his former enemy, wasn't the least bit bothered working with him.  While Many-faces could barely stand to be in the same room as him. 

"I'm sure you could take on the Skeletroids He-Man, but I don't think we could destroy them before they called in reinforcements.  And we can't have a long battle when trying to escape.  It has to be quick so we can get the children out without them being harmed," said Duncan.  He-Man had to admit that he had a point, but still he felt a strong urge to go slice those Skeletroids to pieces.  Perhaps it was because their skull heads reminded him of Skeletor.

"Lets see how Teela is doing," said Duncan.  The others followed him as he entered the room where Teela was supposed to watch the children.  The children sat against the wall appearing extremely frightened.  He-Man's hands clenched into fists when he saw no sign of Teela.

"Where is she!" growled Many-faces as he approached the children.  A few of them screamed at seeing the man with monstrous features approach them.

"Many quit it!  You're only scaring them!" shouted Duncan.  Many-faces stopped and seemed to finally realize that he was snarling at children.  He mumbled an apology while backing away.  There was a painful expression on his face as he watched the children stare at him in terror.  He-Man looked them over trying to decide whom to ask what happened.  He spent years with these children and knew not only their names, but their traits and personalities as well.  Finally his eyes rested onto a brown haired boy named Carl.  Out of all the children Carl was the most levelheaded.

Whenever Lockjaw had a fit of rage he'd shout and scream at the children.  He'd never hit them since Skeletor wanted them unhurt, but he would scare them to such a degree that their bodies began shaking.  Carl was the only one he had seen who was not affected by Lockjaw's fierce shouting.  While the others would occasional show fear for one reason or another, Carl was always absolutely calm.  He had never shed a tear or screamed in fright during all the years He-Man had been there.

"Carl can you please tell me what happened?" asked He-Man.  He slowly approached the boy and knelt down beside him.  Carl stared at him looking far more serious than a thirteen year old should be.

"A small flying robot came down from the ceiling and floated over Jeremy's head.  I think Teela was afraid it would fire some laser or something at Jeremy.  A voice came from the robot and from what Teela said it belonged to a guy named Skeletor.  Skeletor wanted to give her directions to get to him, but Teela insisted for him to have the robot lead her to him.  She gave her word that she wouldn't try to escape if he had the robot stop floating over Jeremy's head," said Carl.  He pointed to Jeremy, a red headed boy, who looked very pale.  He-Man gave both Carl and Jeremy a pat on the back before getting up. 

His here…  Skeletor is right here…

"Merman you know this place best.  Where would Skeletor take Teela?" asked Duncan.  The amphibious man rubbed his scaly chin.

"Yesss, I would say the torture chamber.  That's where Skeletor brought prisoners when he wanted to question them," said Merman.

"Well let's hurry!  They could be hurting Teela right now," said Many-faces impatiently.

"Just a second."

Duncan, Many-faces, and Merman turned to He-Man.  He walked over between Many-faces and Duncan.  Before either could say a word, He-Man grabbed their heads and slammed them together.

Thump!

It was a move He-Man had done at least a dozen times, just grabbing two heads and slamming them together to knock out both guys.  He could recall it working very well against Whiplash and Clawful.  And it worked just as well on Duncan and Many-faces who were now unconscious on the ground.

Merman quickly drew out his trident and pointed it towards He-Man.  The fear in his eyes showed that he really didn't think he could win a fight against He-Man.  He-Man had to admire him for not running though.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you.  I need to take care of Skeletor… alone.  You lead me the torture chamber and I'll rescue Teela," said He-Man.  Merman stared at him for a minute obviously unsure whether to trust him.

"Why do you not want them to come along?" asked Merman.  He pointed his trident towards the two former Defenders lying on the ground.

"Like I said before I need to fight Skeletor alone.  I don't want them to interfere in anyway.  They might not understand that I need to stop Skeletor for good.  I need to make sure he doesn't hurt Teela or anyone else ever again," said He-Man as his blue eyes turned cold.  Merman cocked his head to one side before responding.

"You mean you're going to-"

"Just get me to Skeletor and I'll take care of the rest Merman," said He-Man as he drew his sword.


	10. Chapter 10 Warning! sexual content

Well here's the next chapter.  We're reaching the end.  Keep up the reviews and feel free to tell me how I can improve.

Ragemoon- its rolling, rolling, rolling!

Starbane- thanks for the tip, I checked all my 'his' and I think their correct this time

Avenger-thanks

Hey reviewer with no name, this chapter was made a bit longer

Darkqueen- thanks for all the reviews, its gotten me off my lazy butt and start writing

FantaCwriter- should be getting the chapters out quicker I know!  I'm so lazy **sob**

Ok just a note for all SEXUALLY CONTENT AND EXTREME VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER, oh and I don't own He-Man characters

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Teela didn't say a word, as she was lead by the Doomseeker down the corridors and halls.  She had to admit that the temptation to break her word and make a run for it became stronger and stronger during each minute of the trip.  But that didn't mean she was going to follow the impulse.  She never broke her word even when she left Eternia and her position as a Defender.  She wasn't about to now.  Still… it was tempting.

The others should have found the children by now.  She would be the only one they'd have as a hostage.  She had only one fear now that when He-Man came to rescue her, she'd be used as a hostage against him.  She couldn't let that happen no matter what the consequences.  Even if it meant getting herself killed, she had to make sure that they didn't defeat He-Man.  He was now Eternia's only hope.  He was the only one who could defeat Skeletor and his minions and free Eternia.

Teela nearly giggled at hearing her own thoughts.  After all these years she still had an unbelievable faith in his abilities.  A faith that no matter what happened, he would make sure everything turned out ok.  She had that same faith in him back years ago when fighting along side him.  It was almost hilarious considering all the terrible things that she had now seen on Eternia.  There was still a voice telling her that He-Man could fix it all.  That he could bring Eternia back to its former glory and prosperity. 

And what about Adam…

"Adam," whispered Teela and almost paused in her walking.  She had completely forgotten to ask He-Man about Adam.  Her mind had gotten occupied with what he said when he first saw her.  If they ever got out of this alive she had to get He-Man to tell her what he knew about Adam.  He wasn't dead.  She didn't know why, but she just had a feeling that she would know if he were dead.  It sounded ridiculous, but she'd swear that she could sense that he was alive.

In a few minutes Teela found herself seeing Tri-clops.  He was standing before a steel door with his green eye staring at her.  The memory of Duncan's cyborg body entered her mind and she quickly pulled out her pistol.  Before Tri-clops could react, she pulled the trigger.  Her aim had been good and a yellow bolt of energy hit his shoulder.  Tri-clops gave a yelp of pain as he clutched himself.  Teela had given her word to not escape or try to get help.  But she didn't give her word about not fighting back when she found them.  And she was planning to fight them with all she had.  

She quickly turned her pistol towards the Doomseeker and fired.  The small robot blew apart and tiny parts were sent flying.  She slowly approached Tri-clops as she aimed her pistol back at him.

"You're going to pay for that Teela," muttered Tri-clops.  Teela was well aware that he could fire a blast of energy right at her with that green eye of his.  But she was confident that she could dodge it.

"Are your friends past that door Tri-clops?" asked Teela.  Now wasn't the time to respond to his threats.

"Well almost all of them.  There is also the one behind you," said Tri-clops as he smirked.  Teela couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Oh please!  Do you think I'm actually going to fall for-"

Vvvrrooommm!

Orange light surrounded Teela's body and she found that she couldn't move an inch.  She couldn't even move one finger to pull the trigger on her pistol.

"And did you think that I'd only have one Doomseeker watching you?" asked Tri-clops.  Even though Teela couldn't turn her head, she was certain there was a Doomseeker behind her that was holding her in place with a tractor beam.  She had the satisfaction of seeing Tri-clops winced in pain when he got up.  The feeling didn't last long when he pressed a button on the wall.  The steel door slid open.  Beyond it were Skeletor and all of his minions.  It was frightening, the way each of them stared at her with a glint in their eyes.  It seemed like they were the wolves and she was the prey.

Teela could do nothing as the Doomseeker used the tractor beam to lift her off the ground and float her inside.  Teela tried in vain to move a limb or even a single muscle, but she couldn't no matter how hard she struggled.  The tractor beam had cocooned her with an orange forcefield that held her immobile.  The steel door closed behind her.  Finally the tractor beam ceased and Teela almost collapse when she regained her movement.  She quickly raised her pistol towards Skeletor's skull face, but before she could pull the trigger she found her pistol knocked out of her hand.  Whiplash's tail had moved with inhuman speed to swat it.  The plasma pistol landed onto the ground where Clawful bent down and snapped it into pieces with one of his blood red claws.

"You know I really wish you hadn't done that.  That pistol had sentimental value," said Teela.  She had to admit that she sounded pretty calm considering she was surrounded by the most evil beings that ever walked Eternia.

"Oh Teela, its so nice to see that you haven't lost your fighting spirit," said Skeletor before snapping his fingers.  Lockjaw and Whiplash grabbed her arms before she could react.  Not that she could have done much to stop them even if she had time to react.  It was only now she was noticing some of the instruments of death and torture that were in the room.  

There was an iron maiden with nails that would turn a person into a human pincushion.  Whips, hammers, and blades were hanging from the wall.  There was an iron pot filled with hot coals with a poker sticking inside it.  It was the chains hanging from the ceiling though that really got her attention because she found herself being pulled towards those chains.  Lockjaw and Whiplash took the chains tied them tightly around her wrists.  Then they locked them into place.  She was now hanging from the chains with her feet unable to reach the ground.

"I suppose this is the part where I'm suppose to beg for my life?" asked Teela with a raised eyebrow.  Inside she could feel the panic rising, but she knew she couldn't show it.  To show panic and fear would only please Skeletor.

"Oh no my dear, it would not be fun at all if you were to give up so quickly.  I expect you to fight me my lovely Teela with every bit of will power you have," said Skeletor as he approached her.  Teela tried to shrink away when Skeletor reached a hand towards her.  Unfortunately she had no way to avoid his hand as it gently stroked her cheek.  So instead she opted for retaliation.

"Phew!"

Slap!

Teela had the satisfaction of watching her spit splatter his bony face before he slapped her.  The slap sent her head ringing and Teela began to see dots.

"I see that it's going to take some effort to discipline you.  But then I love a challenge," said Skeletor as he wiped his face.  Teela expected him to go grab one of the weapons hanging on the wall.  She expected him to even grab the red-hot poker from the pot of coals to use on her.  Instead though he did something else and Teela couldn't stop herself from turning pale.

He grabbed his blue leather belt and pulled it down to his ankles.  Leaving all to be able to see his large and very hard manhood.  His groin was completely hairless with a dick so engorged that it was now purple.

"As I said before, I expect you to put up a good fight Teela.  I want to meet as much resistance as possible," said Skeletor as he grabbed her waist.  A part of Teela screamed for her to spit in his face again, but it was dominated by the paralyzing fear she felt.  Never, even during her fights as a Defender, had she found herself in this kind of situation.  And at that moment she didn't know how to deal with it.

He-Man tried not to sigh as Merman kept giving him nervous glances.  The two were walking down the corridor with Merman leading.  He couldn't totally blame him.  After all he just knocked two of his own comrades out, but he had good reason to.  This was something he had to do alone.

I need to make sure Skeletor is stopped for good even if it means killing him…

He-Man had never killed anyone, not even by accident.  Four years ago he would have never considered it.  With his naïve mind he had always thought that any situation could be solved without killing, but he was wrong.  Some people deserved to die.  Both Eternia and the world would be a safer place with Skeletor dead.  Still would the others understand?  Would Teela understand? 

"This is it," said Merman as he gestured to a steel door.  Inside there was Skeletor.  He-Man tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.  A rush of adreliane filled his body.

"Can this door be locked from the outside?" asked He-Man.

"Yesss, Skeletor arranged for the torture chamber to be able to be locked from the outside.  So no prisoners could escape," said Merman as he gestured to a panel on the wall.

"Good, I want you to lock it after I go in.  No matter what happens, don't unlock it until I yell for you to do so.  Understand?" asked He-Man.  He gazed intently at Merman.  The fish man shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and nodded.  Without another word, Merman pressed a button on the panel to open the steel door.  It slid open and He-Man quickly walked in.  The steel door slid shut behind him and he heard a click.

He-Man could feel a smile crossed his lips as he saw Skeletor.  It wasn't the cheerful, innocent smile that he used to give.  It was a smile of a deadly man that was jaded.  Skeletor had his naked manhood posed only inches away from Teela who was staring at it with horror.  Everyone else was staring at him with a mixture of surprise and aggression.

"You know Skeletor for a second I had doubts about this, but now you renewed my confidence in what I need to do," said He-Man as he pointed his sword at Skeletor.

Evil-Lyn had actually felt sympathy for the woman when it became obvious what Skeletor planned to do to her.  By the time he was done she would probably wish she were dead.  She knew from experience that Skeletor wasn't pleasant in lovemaking.  Back many years ago she had invited herself into Skeletor's bed in order to strengthen her position as his ally.  It took only one night for Evil-Lyn to decide never again.  Even by her standards he was an extremely rough lover.

But before anything could happen He-Man had showed up at the door.  It sent a shiver of pleasure through Evil-Lyn to see He-Man still as fit and strong as the day he took her.  She had a strong hope that her son Alexander would inherit his incredible strength.  Combine that with inheriting her talent for magic and he would most certainly grow to be the most powerful man in the world.

"You know Skeletor for a second I had doubts about this, but now you renewed my confidence in what I need to do."

"Ah He-Man I have gotten enough amusement from you.  I think I'll kill you in front of poor Teela here before I fuck her," said Skeletor as he pulled up his leather belt.  Then with a gesture his Havoc staff came floating to his hand.

"None of you interfere.  Only I shall have the honor of killing him," said Skeletor.  Evil-Lyn mentally cursed, but kept quite.  After years of rulership Skeletor had grown even more arrogant than before.  He would tell Evil-Lyn constantly that He-Man had been an inferior warrior who had no chance of stopping him from conquering Eternia.  Even back during the old days of battling He-Man, Skeletor would claim that He-Man had become lucky when defeating him.  Considering He-Man won every fight against Skeletor, he must have been blessed with a lot of luck.

Now if Evil-Lyn knew Skeletor, he would fight He-Man and put on a good show.  They'd fight Skeletor would eventually lose.  And that would be the moment when she and the rest of them should step in to help him.  When Skeletor said don't 'interfere', that was his way of saying don't interfere as long as I'm not embarrassing myself.

"Die He-Man!" shouted Skeletor before he charged.  He-Man said nothing in return, but simply raised his Sword of Power.  The Havoc staff and Sword of Power clashed with each other.

Clang!

Evil-Lyn licked her lips as she watched the two struggle.  Skeletor's blue muscles budge and sweated as he held a firm grip on his staff.  The Havoc staff gave off a yellow glow as it grinded against the Sword of Power.  The Sword of Power gave off a blue glow, as He-Man's own tanned muscles bulged and sweated with effort.  There was a balance between the two as each put in as much force as possible into their weapon.  In the end it was no surprise to Evil-Lyn when Skeletor lost his grip on his staff and it was sent flying out of his hands.  Skeletor was panting for breath as he took a step back.

"He-Man.. you won't-"

Swish!

It was the last words that Skeletor spoke before He-Man sliced his head off.  The skull head flew from his body and landed with a thud right in front of Evil-Lyn.  She had gotten her staff ready and three seconds later all of them were planning to attack He-Man to come to Skeletor's aid.  Now though they were frozen and shocked.  There was absolutely silence as everyone including Teela stared at Skeletor's head.  The rest of Skeletor's body collapsed.  As soon as that body hit the ground, chaos came into place.

All the minions except for Evil-Lyn headed for He-Man, but not all of them fought him.  Tri-clops and Whiplash actually ran past him and straight for the steel door.  A He-Man who was willing to kill wasn't something they were ready to face.  Survival came first and foremost in their minds.  Beastman, Clawful, and Lockjaw though had revenge on their minds.  

Clawful tried snapping He-Man's head off with one of his claws.  He ducked and thrust his sword forward.  It slid through Clawful's shell plate chest as if it was made of butter.  Clawful had only a chance to give out a groan as he watched the sword pierce his heart.  Meanwhile Beastman was able to wrap his whip around He-Man's waist and gave a giant pull.  He-Man lost his grip on his sword, which stayed in Clawful's chest.  He quickly turned and dived forward to grab Beastman's head.  Then he twisted the head in an almost professional manner.

Snap!

Beastman still had that surprised expression on his face as he collapsed dead onto the ground.  Beastman had expected a punch from He-Man when he turned.  Not to be grabbed by the head and have his neck snapped into two.  Lockjaw kept his distance, but had his giant metal pincer out and ready to attack.

Evil-Lyn found herself indecisive.  Four years ago she would have followed her first instinct to just run like Tri-clops and Whiplash.  The steel door wouldn't open and Tri-clops was trying to blast it open while Whiplash whacked it time and time again with his tail.  Evil-Lyn was certain her magic though could rip it open.  But now she wasn't certain if she should run.  Her first thought when she saw Skeletor die was that now the kingdom of Eternia could be hers.  She could be Queen now, but only if He-Man didn't make it alive out of this room.

She watched as He-Man gave Lockjaw a punch that had such force behind it that it shattered Lockjaw's metal jaw.  Lockjaw screamed in pain as he took a step back.  Evil-Lyn had killed before and watch others kill, especially Skeletor.  It was usually with a passion for blood.  There was a fire in the eyes that hungered for death.  He-Man though didn't have fire in his eyes.  His cold blue eyes were emotionless and dead.  He didn't appear to be a man enjoying this battle.  He was efficient and professional with each killing blow.  He was a man who saw this as a simply a task he must do.

Evil-Lyn soon came to realize that she, Teela, and Whiplash were the only ones alive in the room.  Lockjaw had his skull cracked open when he was slammed into a wall.  Tri-clops had his head sliced off just like Skeletor.  Whiplash was now trying to keep He-Man away by snapping his whip like tail in his direction.  

"He-Man stop it!  STOP IT!" screamed Teela.  She had finally broken out of her horrified shock and was screaming her head off.  But He-Man wasn't so much as looking in her direction as he approached Whiplash.

"Evil-Lyn let me go!  Look I can get him to stop if you get me free.  So get these chains off," said Teela as she struggled.  Before Evil-Lyn could respond, both heard a roar of pain and turned.  He-Man had sliced off Whiplash's tail with his sword.  It was now flopping onto the ground like a dead fish.

"Stop.. please stop," said Whiplash hoarsely.  He didn't raise a hand to defend himself.  Instead he sat against the wall curled up into a ball.  He stared at He-Man with absolute fear.  He-Man raised his sword and paused.

"Don't move," said He-Man simply.  It was the first time he spoke since he started his killing spree.  Like his eyes, his voice was dead and emotionless.  Whiplash nodded quickly never taking his eyes off the man.  He-Man turned and Evil-Lyn's heart skipped a beat.

"Evil-Lyn let me go!  I'll make sure he won't hurt you," said Teela as she continued to pull against her chains.  An idea came to mind as Evil-Lyn glanced over at her.

"Thank you for the offer, but I have a better idea," said Evil-Lyn and raised her staff.  A tiny bolt of violet electricity stuck Teela's head causing her to lose consciousness.  Two other tiny bolts of lighting shot from Evil-Lyn's crystal staff to break the chains.  Evil-Lyn swiftly grabbed Teela's body to use it to shield herself.  She kept her staff posed right next to Teela's head.

"Not another step He-Man," said Evil-Lyn.  She almost sighed with relief when He-Man stopped.  Now though she wasn't sure what to do.  She needed both her hands free to do her more powerful spells.  And the second she let go of Teela she knew she was dead.

"So at exactly what point was it that you decided we all deserved death?" asked Evil-Lyn.  She asked both out of curiosity and to stall.

"Six months ago during one of Skeletor's visits.  He was telling me how my mother begged for my father to be spared before they killed her," said He-Man.  There was no grief in his voice.  He stated it as if it was a simple fact.  After years of Skeletor's taunting, He-Man had learned to hide his emotions well.

"You're mother?  But Skeletor didn't know who your mother was," said Evil-Lyn.

"Oh he didn't know he was speaking of my mother, former Queen of Eternia," said He-Man.  Evil-Lyn stared at He-Man as the words began to register in her mind.

"The Queen is your mother?  You're-"

"Prince Adam, heir to Eternia.  Didn't you think it was strange how Adam always ran off and then He-man showed up?" asked He-Man.  Evil-Lyn could only continue to stare at him.  Adam… the prince of Eternia had been He-Man.  Her child wasn't just the son of He-Man, but the son of the Prince of Eternia.  During that moment of surprise, she had lowered her staff.  It was only for a few seconds, but that was all He-Man needed.

Swish!

The only clue Evil-Lyn had of what happened was the glint the sword gave off as it flew through the air.  And by the time understood what was happening, the sword had already struck.  She stared down at her right arm or what was left of it.  The sword had sliced through her elbow causing her to lose both the staff and the rest of her arm.  She stared at the stump that began to gush out blood.  Then she felt a hand come over her neck in an iron grip and pull her away from Teela.  She lost her grip on her hostage who fell to the ground.  She found herself slammed against a wall and hissed with pain.

"Ok, I surrender," muttered Evil-Lyn.  She was no longer thinking about being Queen of Eternia or any other opportunities for power.  Now she was only thinking about survival.

"I spared Whiplash because he surrendered, but that doesn't mean I'll spare you Evil-Lyn.  You're the one who caused me and everyone else to have to suffer through this hell," growled He-Man.  For the first time he showed emotion then.  She saw it in his eyes and heard it in his voice.  It was hate… pure, ugly hate.  After all these years of suffering, he seemed to despise her more than Skeletor even.  She actually felt slightly flattered.  And she had only one card left to play to get him to spare her life.

"We have a child!  A little boy named Alexander, that you fathered through me," said Evil-Lyn quickly.  The surprise that register on He-Man's face almost made her laugh even considering her current situation.  He stared at her for a second while saying nothing.  At first Evil-Lyn had hope that she would live after all, but then He-Man's eyes turned hard.

"Do you really think I'd let any child including my own son have to suffer having you as a mother," said He-Man.  It was with those words that Evil-Lyn realized she had no chance of getting out of this alive.  That urge to laugh took over Evil-Lyn again, but for a different reason.  Skeletor had actually done it.  He had turned He-Man into a heartless monster.  A man who would murder without remorse.  And now Skeletor's creation had killed him.

"I'll make your death quick and painless if you answer two questions," said He-Man.  Evil-Lyn didn't bother to respond.

"My first question is does anyone besides you know that Alexander is my son?" asked He-Man.  Evil-Lyn was tempted to lie at first.  But the way he stared intently at her made her think that he'd know if she was telling something false.

"No… I told the nanny, but she died recently.  I think Skeletor suspected it, but that doesn't seem to matter now," said Evil-Lyn.

"My second question is this… was there any other magic you used on me besides the illusion that you were Teela when I slept with you?  I go over the situation in my mind time and time again and I can't believe I lost control like that simply because I had a naked Teela in my hands," said He-Man.  He probably thought about that day hundreds of times during his imprisonment.

"I was wearing a perfume.  It was a special concoction that would cause a man to give in to his lust.  To lose control over himself," said Evil-Lyn.  She couldn't keep the pride out of her voice.  She considered seducing He-Man to be one of her greater accomplishments event though it was now leading her to her death.  Then a question popped into her mind.

"Will you spare my child?" asked Evil-Lyn.  The mother in her screamed for her to ask.  She loved Alexander in her own way.  It wasn't an unconditional love that most mothers gave to their child.  She did try to keep her feelings distant when it came to Alexander, but that didn't mean she didn't care for him.

"Yes," said He-Man simply before grabbing her head.

Snap!

He-Man carefully laid Evil-Lyn's body onto the ground.  Then he turned to Teela who lay on the ground as well.  He moved a finger through her hair while giving her a smile.  It was a sorrowful smile.  Then he moved his arms under her and gently picked her up.  Whiplash hadn't taken his eyes off He-Man once since his life was spared.  Slowly He-Man glanced over at him.

"I trust you won't say a word about Alexander or what my true identity is to anyone?"

"Yes," whispered Whiplash as he bobbed his head up and down.  His body, spirit, and mind had been defeated.  The fear that He-Man produced within the lizard man was ten times stronger than anything Skeletor had been able to cause him to feel.

"Good," said He-Man before giving Teela a soft squeeze.  Then he walked towards the battered steel door. 


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry I was so late with this.  You see I got a job and work has been occupying my time a lot.  Anyway this is a lot longer than my other chapters so hope you like it.  Is it the final chapter?  I'll try not to let it be, but work can get in the way.  Also there is another fanfic I want to work on.

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"I'll kill him," growled Many-faces for the third time as he led them through the hallway.  They had both wakened up to find He-Man and Merman gone.  Now Many-faces was following He-Man's scent so they could find him.  Duncan rubbed his forehead as he glanced over at Many-faces.  He had suspicions as to why He-Man had knocked them out.  Perhaps he wanted to settle things with Skeletor alone.  Duncan just hoped he could prevent a fight from breaking out when Many-faces and him finally found them.

"Many fighting among ourselves will only help Skeletor," said Duncan.  He wasn't surprised when Many-faces snorted.

"Tell that to He-Man than.  I don't trust him Man-at-arms.  His not the same man as before," said Many-faces as they turned a corner.

"None of us are the same as we were before," stated Duncan.  Secretly he feared that He-Man changed even more so than the rest of them.  Even though no one knew it, He-Man was in real life an eighteen-year-old teenager when he was captured and imprisoned.  Duncan was afraid his young mind might have been more affected by the long years of imprisonment compared to the rest of them.  Not to mention having to suffer the knowledge that his parents were killed.

"He-Man!" roared Many-faces.  Duncan was startled out of his thoughts and raised his head.  Sure enough there was He-Man carrying Teela in his arms.  Duncan turned pale as he saw her still form.  Was she dead?  Beside He-Man was Merman and… Whiplash?  Duncan instantly noticed the lack of a tail.  Many-faces though had his red eyes focused totally on He-Man as he stomped towards the man.  His large muscles twitch and flexed as he prepared to battle.

"He-Man if she-"

"Don't worry Many, she's alive and well.  She's just unconscious," said He-Man.  He looked relatively calm considering Many-faces appeared ready to beat him to death.

"Good!  Now hand her over to someone so I can rip you limb from limb," growled Many-faces as his hands clenched into fists.  Duncan gave Merman a questionable look, wondering where Skeletor was.  Wondering exactly what the hell happened.  The fish man though had his eyes on the floor.

"There isn't going to be any fighting.  Not until I find out exactly what happened here?  Where is Skeletor?" asked Duncan as he stepped between the two.  He-Man didn't say anything, but instead raised Teela forward in his arms.  Duncan quickly raised his own arms to carry her.  He instinctively pulled her close to his chest.  

"I killed them."

Duncan stared at him, not quite understanding exactly what the champion of Grayskull was saying.  Even Many-faces had snapped out of his rage to stare at He-Man surprised.

"Killed who exactly?" asked Duncan while not quite sure if he was going to like the answer.

"Skeletor, Clawful, Beastman, Lockjaw, Tri-clops, and Evil-Lyn.  I came here, we fought, and then I killed them.  Their bodies are back there," said He-Man as the jerked a thumb towards the doorway behind him.  Then without another word he walked past Duncan and Many-faces.  Whiplash had his head lowered as he began walking behind He-Man, like a loyal dog following his master.

"He-Man… He-Man come back here!" shouted Duncan with a hint of desperation in his voice.  But He-Man continued walking and didn't once turn to look back.  A feeling of dread came to Duncan as he slowly turned towards the doorway.  He walked slowly while absently stroking Teela's cheek with his human hand.  Soon he could see the outcome of He-Man's battle.  Dead bodies layed across the ground of the torture chamber.  As much as Duncan didn't want to admit it, he had a feeling of satisfaction at seeing Tri-clop's headless body.  He quickly suppressed that feeling and turned towards Merman.

"He really did all of this?" asked Duncan.  He could already read the answer in Merman's face.

"Yesss, he had me lock the door when he went inside and then I opened it once he shouted for me to," said Merman.  Many-faces looked upon the carnage with pleasure.

"Couldn't have happened to a more deserving bunch," said Many-faces with a smile that showed his sharp fangs.

"I don't think Teela will agree with you," said Duncan as he looked down at the stepdaughter in his arms.  The smile quickly disappeared from Many-faces when he heard those words.

"Yeah and she shouldn't have had to see this, but she didn't go through what we went through Man-at-arms.  These sick bastards deserved what they got," said Many-faces as he gestured to the corpses.

"Maybe you're right Many, but I feel that they defeated us in the way that really mattered.  They turned the former hero of Eternia into a killer with their own deaths.  And the rest of us are now jaded and definitely not as noble as we once were," said Duncan.  The torture and battles he had gone through in life made him feel twenty years older.  He was growing tired and weary.

"You're forgetting Teela here.  Maybe the rest of us can no longer say we have a Defender's heart, but Teela here still has one.  Skeletor and his minions didn't get a chance to break her spirit," said Many-faces as he glanced affectionately at Teela's sleeping form.

"And I thank the Elders everyday for that," whispered Duncan.

In the end it turned out to be very easy to stop the Skeletroids that surrounded Snake Mountain.  Duncan just used Tri-clop's wristband, which had the ability to control both the Doomseekers and Skeletroids by remote.  Once he shut them all down, it was easy to escort the children out of Snake Mountain and towards Eternia palace.  All except for Merman who didn't go with them.  Instead he headed towards the ocean claiming that he would be bringing the escaped prisoners to the city.

Once they reached the city, all they had to do was say three words to get them to open the gates.

'Skeletor was dead.'

The combination of seeing He-Man and hearing those words caused Skeletor's human guards to drop their weapons and beg for forgiveness.  People began celebrating and cheering. And to add to the cheer, Merman brought the escaped prisoners just like he said he would.  Among those escaped prisoners were many former Eternia palace guards who Duncan considered both comrades and friends.  Unfortunately there were no other former Defenders among them and Duncan was able to get confirmation that Stratos, Buzz-off, and Ram Man had been executed.

A healer checked on Teela and reported that she should wake up the next day.  Duncan found himself in the awkward position of being in charge of the city for that day.  He-Man absolutely refused to have anything to do with the attempt to help the people of Eternia.  Many-faces refused to leave Teela's side even though the healer said she'd be just fine.  That left Man-at-arms with the responsibility of freeing prisoners, aiding the people financial with the royal treasury, and trying to bring some sort of order to the mess that Skeletor left. 

He-Man entered the damp chamber while wrinkling his nose.  The smell of rotting flesh hung in the air.  There just like Many-faces told him was Battle Cat his friend, companion, and pet.  Battle Cat stared at He-Man and for a second he had some small hope that he recognized him.  But that hope was dashed when Battle Cat gave a fierce roar and began biting at the steel bars.  Hunger could be seen in his yellow eyes and he obviously figured He-Man should be his next snack.

"You knew that she wasn't Teela when I saw that illusion.  I should have listened to you old friend," said He-Man with a sad smile.  He mentally shook off the regret he felt.  Regret would get him nothing now.  All he could do now was to keep going on the path he was on.  He raised the Sword of Power and pointed it at Battle Cat.  The massive feline glowed with a blue aura and a bolt of blue lighting shot from the sword and struck the tiger.  As soon as he was hit, Battle Cat became Cringer.  But unlike several times before, Cringer didn't appear full of fear or cowardly.  Instead he began roaring and growling with as much savage passion as before.  And he still didn't show any sign of recognizing He-Man.

He-Man sliced through the steel bars with his sword, giving the tiger an opening from his cage.  Then he dropped his sword and raised both hands to grab Cringer when he leapt for his throat.  He-Man easily put him at arms difference and then held him to the ground.  It would have been difficult to subdue Battle Cat, but Cringer didn't have nearly the strength required to get out of He-Man's grip.  He-Man made sure not to hurt him, but just keep him on the ground while with one hand he scratched behind the green feline's left ear.  It was a favorite spot that Cringer liked to have scratched.  An hour passed and finally Cringer began to calm down.  His growls turned into a purr as he enjoyed the scratching.  Finally He-Man let him go and Cringer slowly rose up.  

He-Man prepared himself for having to hold him down again, but it wasn't necessary.  When Cringer turned to him, he continued purring as he rubbed against He-Man's leg.

"Cringer… do you recognize me?" asked He-Man softly as he scratched behind the tiger's ear again.  Cringer bobbed his head up and down.

"I'm sorry Cringer…  I'm sorry for all of this," muttered He-Man as he felt his eyes water slightly.  He quickly wiped his eyes while cursing himself.  He wasn't that weak Prince Adam who cried after hearing about the deaths of his parents.  Prince Adam was dead, now there was only He-Man.  He lived so many years as He-Man that it felt like all in his heart and mind that had been Prince Adam had simply faded away. 

He heard someone open the door and soon Whiplash had walked in.  He was covered with scratches and claw marks as he walked towards He-Man.  Cringer raised his head and showed his sharp teeth as he snarled at Whiplash.  He-Man placed his hand on Cringer's head and gave it a good rubbing.

"It's ok Cringer, Whiplash is no longer an enemy.  I trust you've done what I asked," said He-Man as he glanced over at Whiplash.

"Yes, I searched for Panthor and found him in the Palace Dungeon.  Skeletor fed him prisoners there it would seem.  I killed him like you asked," said Whiplash.  He-Man nodded and then returned his attention back to Cringer, stroking his furry back.  He hadn't planned to spare Whiplash.  But then he hadn't expected any of Skeletor's minions to surrender.  Whiplash had offered him total loyalty and servitude.  To test that loyalty he asked him to kill Panthor.  Now it seemed that Whiplash was sincere in his offer of servitude, but He-Man wasn't sure what to do.  He couldn't let Whiplash go free.  He might very well go back to hurting innocent people.  And as much as a monster as He-Man had become, he still wasn't monster enough to kill someone who would offer no defense against his attack.

Well with the exception of Evil-Lyn of course…

"Very well, you will be my servant Whiplash.  And your first task is to get some food for Cringer here," said He-Man.  Cringer continued to purr as he rubbed against He-Man's leg again.

Teela had been in the bed all night and early morning since they reached Eternia palace.  And Many-faces hadn't left the seat he was in during that time.  Man-at-arms sometimes stopped by to ask him to help with something, but Many-faces refused to leave the room.  He knew he was being selfish.  Poor Duncan was over his head with trying to figure out how to undo the harm that Skeletor's four years of conquest had done.  But Many-faces wanted his face to be the first one that Teela saw when she woke up.  No matter how disturbing that face was.

"What am I going to do?" asked Many-faces of himself.  Even with his monstrous features, he still figured he had a chance to win Teela's heart before He-Man showed up.  Now He-Man was once again the hero who slay Skeletor and saved her.  And as much as he was itching to challenge the man to combat, he knew that even if he won it wouldn't help make his situation any better.  But the urge to throttle He-Man was still strong and he would probably have fought him by now if it wasn't for the fact that He-Man never came to visit Teela.  That was about to change though.

"Hello Many."

Many-faces turned to find He-Man at the doorway.  The rage he felt towards the man rose with the sight of him.

"I think it's time we talked.  Care to go for a walk," said He-Man with a friendly smile.  He still had that golden beard that went down his chest and made him appear older.  Many-faces slowly nodded and rose up from his seat.  After giving Teela one last glance he turned to He-Man and followed him out in the hallway.  Neither one spoke as they walked down the hallway.  Soon they were outside the palace and in the garden.  The various beautiful plants had died from lack of care.  The sky was dark with smog that the city used to release.  It would take a long time to not only heal the people, but the environment of this kingdom.

"You love her, don't you."

It wasn't a question, but simply a statement of fact.  Many-faces whipped his head towards He-Man and said the first words that came to mind.

"Stay away from her."

"And why do you want me to stay away from her?" asked He-Man.  He wasn't appearing hostile, but openly curious.  A dozen answers came to Many-faces.  

Because I don't want her to fall in love with you again.  Because you'll ruin any chance I have with her.  Because…

Suddenly the image of Skeletor's corpse came to Many-faces's mind.

"Because you're dangerous," said Many-faces.  It was funny, but he never thought of He-Man as dangerous back during the old days.  Yes He-Man was an excellent warrior, but dangerous?  Skeletor and his minions had never needed to worry about He-Man chopping their heads off or even doing permanent injury to them.  That is until now.

"You're right, I am dangerous Many," said He-Man and revealed something in his eyes that caused Many-faces to take a step back.  Those frosty blue eyes turned cold and Many-faces found himself raising his fists to defend himself.  It wasn't what he saw in those eyes that scared him, but what he didn't see.  That heroic light that used to be in his eyes had died and in its place was death.  For the first time, Many-faces felt certain that this man was capable of killing him.

"I bet you're worried that Teela will scorn you because of your face.  That she'll think of you as a monster.  But you aren't a monster Many, not a true monster.  I'm what a true monster is Many.  And Teela saw just how much of a killer and monster I could be back in that torture chamber.  You have absolutely no reason to worry about me taking her away from you," said He-Man.  His voice was stone cold and Many-faces found himself nodding his head.

"Now why don't we see how she's doing?" asked He-Man in a cheerful tone.  The face of death had quickly been replaced by the expression of cheer and good humor that the old He-Man used to have.  It was a mask to hide his true nature and they both knew it.

"Yeah, lets go see her," said Many-faces.  They turned and began walking back inside.  Even though he wasn't planning to say it out loud, Many-faces actually felt pity for the man beside him.

Teela slowly opened her eyes.  She appeared to be in a bed in a room.  She instantly recognized that she was in the palace.  The palace rooms had a structure and architecture that she had known since she was a child.  Memories came then of what happened in the torture chamber.  How she was captured, how He-Man came, and how He-Man killed mercilessly.  

"Oh Elders," whispered Teela as she felt emotionally shaken.  He-Man wasn't supposed to kill.  He-Man was supposed to be the champion of Eternia, the man who would fight for light and justice.  But he was no longer that man now.  Teela saw that with her very own eyes.

"Teela!"

Teela's eyes followed the source of the voice and she found Many-faces and He-Man at the doorway.  Many-faces had a smile on his demonic face as he quickly approached her.  Teela kept her eyes on him, not able to bring herself to look at He-Man at the moment.  

"Are you feeling ok Teela?" asked Many-faces.  He sounded surprising gentle, which was very different from his usual growling and snarling voice.  He took Teela's hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

"I.. um yeah, why are we in the palace?" asked Teela as she gazed into Many-faces's concerned face.

"Well with Skeletor and them dead, it was easy to get out of Snake Mountain.  We came back here to the Eternia palace to give the people the good news," said Many-faces.

"Mind if I talk to her alone Many?"

Teela expected Many-faces to growl out a no, but instead he simply nodded and calmly got up.  Teela couldn't stop herself from staring as Many-faces left the room.  Now that she didn't see coming.  She slowly turned to look at He-Man.

"Did you kill Evil-Lyn?"

"Yes,"

"I see… so now what are you going to do?" asked Teela.  She had come close to asking another question instead.  Why?  Why did you kill them?  Was it the four years of imprisonment that made you decide to do it?  Was it seeing them kill and hurt your friends?  But she didn't ask those types of questions.  She could probably end up asking 'Why?' a hundred times and never get a satisfying answer.

"I'm going to leave and travel some.  That is if no one objects," said He-Man as he raised an eyebrow.  She knew what he was saying, as long as she didn't object.

"No objections here," said Teela while not even trying to stop herself from giving him a glare.  Maybe he had a good reason for what he had done, but the feeling of betrayal hurt too much for her to care.  He-Man didn't appear the least bit surprised by her response.

"I have something else that I need to talk to you about, its about a child Evil-Lyn had named Alexander," said He-Man.

"Plan to kill him too?" asked Teela.  The words were out of her mouth before it actually registered what she was saying.  She quickly covered a hand over her mouth, but He-Man didn't appear hurt or insulted from the remark.

"No, I came to ask you to take care of him personally.  I want someone I know is a good person to raise him," said He-Man.  Teela gritted her teeth as she continued to glare at him.  She didn't know much about kids.  She certainly never imagined herself raising one.  But she couldn't say no…  In some twisted way she had a chance to save Evil-Lyn's life.  If she had only been able to convince He-Man to stop somehow.  Since she failed to save Evil-Lyn, the least she could do was take care of her child.

"Ok," said Teela.  He-Man turned to leave and as Teela stared at his back, a thought struck her like lighting.

"WAIT!"

He-Man stopped and turned in surprise.  Teela had practically shouted out the word as she jumped out of bed.

"Father… said that you would know what happened to Adam.  I need to know, is he alive?  And if so where can I find him?" asked Teela.  She couldn't believe she had nearly lost her chance to finally find out where the prince was.

"Adam is dead Teela," said He-Man.  There was no grief in his voice.  Teela simply stared unable to believe for a second what she heard.  Adam was dead.  Her best friend was dead.  She'd never get to talk to him.  She'd never get to say-

"No…  No…," whispered Teela as tears came down her cheeks.

Orko.. Mekaneck.. Ram Man.. all gone… and Adam.. it's too much…

She couldn't hold it in.  It was just too much emotion and pain.  All those people were dead and she was spared because she ran away.  Teela could feel the control she had over her emotions finally break.  And like a flood overflowed her with all the suffering and loss she had gone through since first stepping on this planet.  Teela didn't cry, she sobbed.  Her whole body convulsed as tears continued to flow down her cheeks.  Her nose began to drip and spit dribbled from her mouth as she began to babble Adam's name over and over again.  All in all she wasn't a pretty sight.

Large warm arms wrapped and lifted her off the ground.  She couldn't see past her tears, but she felt warm flesh surround her and hold her tightly.  She was rocked back and forth.  Her body continued to shake as she let loose her grief.  She felt soft hair touching her cheek and soaking in her tears.  And she heard a heartbeat that sounded strong and loud to her.  Slowly she began to calm down.  A hand was stroking her head and she heard someone whispering comforting words in her ear.  

"Teela.. Teela.. please stop Teela…"

The voice was soft, but sounded desperate and for one second Teela actually believed the voice belonged to Adam.  But when she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, she found herself in He-Man's arms.  It wasn't Adam that had comfort her of course.  Adam was dead.  She had been crying her eyes out in He-Man's embrace.  The hair she had felt had come from his beard.  He-Man gazed at her concerned and Teela hated how she had let herself become weak in front of him.  She quickly pushed herself away.

"Why do you care so much about his death?  He was a weak coward," said He-Man.  Teela's green eyes flashed with anger as she raised a fist.

THWAP!

Teela hissed in pain as she grabbed her fist.  You'd think after almost breaking her hand on his jaw the first time that she would learn her lesson.  

"Teela.. I..," stuttered He-Man.  For the first time he appeared uncertain and confused.

"Just shut up!  SHUT UP!  You don't know a fucking thing about Adam!  He was a lot of things, but he wasn't weak!" shouted Teela as she rubbed her hand.  He-Man's face became tense.

"Adam was a lazy, spoiled prince who was a disappointment to everyone.  You've said it yourself more than once Teela before you left," said He-Man.  Teela flinched from that remark, but kept her glare on him.

"I know what I said about him He-Man and you know what?  I was wrong… I was very wrong.  Everyone, especially me, criticized Adam.  I can't count the number of times I told him he wasn't being a true prince.  I can't count the number of times I scorned him for not being at a battle.  And lots of other people including his own father showed disappointment, but he wasn't weak!  You know why?" asked Teela. 

"Why?" asked He-Man.  He appeared truly curios with where she was going with this.

"Because he took it He-Man!  He took all the shit me and everyone else threw at him.  He didn't let our words get to him.  He didn't.. he didn't run away because of what we said," said Teela with the last words coming out as a whisper.  A single tear ran down her cheek.  He-Man took a step towards her and she instantly backed away while wiping her face.  There was no way she was going to start crying in He-Man's arms again.

"But I did run away He-Man.  I made one stupid mistake and I couldn't stand the King and my father telling me how disappointed they were in me.  I left He-Man!  I left everyone to deal with Skeletor on their own and if I hadn't left then maybe Adam would still be alive.  Maybe I could have done something to stop what happened to my home!" shouted Teela.  With every word spoken her voice rose higher and higher.    

"You staying wouldn't have changed anything," said He-Man.  The words sounded hollow to both of them.  Teela knew right then he was lying or at the very least didn't absolutely believe his own words.

"Maybe.. maybe not.  I'll never know for sure if I could have prevented this.  If I could have prevented Adam from being killed.  Now I guess I'm never going to get some fucking closure or whatever you want to call it.  Now I'll never see the person who I came here to see," said Teela.  She slowly sat down on the bed.  The pain and rage that had washed over her body was now gone.  Now her body felt numb and tired.  Like she had just been through a fight for her life and only now had a chance to recover.

"You came back to Eternia to see Adam?" asked He-Man.  He actually sounded pleased as he asked the question.

"Yes," said Teela simply.  She was tired of shouting.  She gave He-Man an earful of just how much Adam meant to her and now she was ready to go back to sleep.  Maybe in her dreams she could escape the guilt and pain that she felt.  It was there like an old wound that would never heal.

"Can I do anything for you before I go?" asked He-Man.  He actually sounded desperate and Teela could see guilt in his eyes.  The bastard!  How dare he feel guilty!  He just killed several men and a mother in cold blood.  He didn't even blink an eye over it.  But now she cries her eyes out and suddenly he acts human.  Now he acts like the old He-Man when all her faith and belief in him had been shattered.  At that moment she knew exactly what she wanted.

"Yes He-Man there is something I want.  I want it to be you who died and Adam who's alive, but that's really just wishful thinking," said Teela with spite.  She was hoping he would flinch or at the very least appeared hurt.  The only reaction she got though was a raised eyebrow.

"Is that what you really want Teela?" asked He-Man as his gaze seemed to become more intense.  At that moment, Teela had the crazy urge to believe he could do it.  He could grant her request.  It was simply a feeling she had.

"Yes," whispered Teela.  That feeling grew stronger when she saw He-Man nod.  It was ridiculous of course.  He-Man could do a lot of things, but he couldn't bring someone back from the dead. 

"Remember that no matter what happens, you asked me to do this," said He-Man.  He turned and left the room.  Teela continued staring at the doorway.  What did he mean by that?  Dead was dead, He-Man couldn't bring Adam back.  No matter how badly she wished she could see the prince.

He-Man had stood in the hallway looking at his Sword of Power for a full five minutes.

"She wants Adam," muttered He-Man to himself.  It wasn't He-Man the hero she came back for, but Adam she had come to see.

But Adam is dead…  At least the Adam she knew was dead…  You're a cold-blooded monster with or without the Sword of Power…

"She doesn't have to know that though," said He-Man as he raised his sword.  A plan had formed in his mind when Teela asked for Adam.  At first he had planned to give up ever being Adam again.  But why not give up being He-Man instead?  He could go to Teela as Adam and she would never know what he had done.  What a monster he was.  They would be best friends again, maybe even more than friends.  That temptation caused He-Man to speak the words.  The words that would take away He-Man the man he was for four years.

"Let the power return!" shouted He-Man.  There was a flash of white light and then the sound of clothing ripping apart.

Rrrrriippp!

Adam looked down to see his old clothes from four years ago rip apart against his body.  He had his old clothes back, but his body wasn't the same.  He still had his golden beard and still had an impressive tanned physique.  He was now naked and found that he physically appeared the same.

"I was He-Man for so long that I can't change back to my old body," said Adam with shock.

"Not quite."

Adam quickly turned to see Man-at-arms at the other end of the hallway.  The cyborg walked towards him.

"You know Adam you should be more careful.  I came to visit Teela and spotted you changing.  You're lucky Many, Teela, or some stranger didn't see you," said Duncan in a fatherly manner.

"It doesn't matter.  I'm still He-Man," said Adam as he gestured to his impressive, naked body.

"Adam how old are you?"

"Twenty-two years old," said Adam while not quite sure where Duncan was going with this.

"And did you think you'd stay a scrawny teenager even when you reached adulthood," said Duncan.  Adam's eyes lit up as he began to comprehend what Man-at-arms was saying.

"This is what I look like when I reach twenty-two?" 

"The Sword of Power didn't just give you incredible strength and invulnerability.  It changed your body so that you were a full-grown man.  Now without the sword you are a full-grown man so there's no change to your physical appearance.  Try to make a crack in this wall," said Duncan as he tapped a stonewall next to him.  Adam rolled his eyes as he raised his fist.  He could crack walls with a single finger.  He punch the wall as lightly as possible and was surprised at the stinging pain he felt when his fist met cold stone.

"Ouch," muttered Adam as he grabbed his hand.

"See?  The Sword of Power took back all its powers it gave you.  Now you are just a normal twenty-two year old man," said Duncan as he crossed his arms.  The realization finally hit Adam.  He was just a normal twenty-two year old with no powers like He-Man.  He was Adam again.  Then another realization hit him that filled him with dread.

"There's no way I can convince Teela I'm Adam without letting her know that I was He-Man as well," muttered He-Man.  Even if he could convince her that he was Adam, then she would know Adam and He-Man were the same.  She would know that her best friend was that monster she hated.  So much for his plan.

"I think you should tell Teela the truth."

"She hates He-Man now Duncan and she'll hate Adam as well if I show her the truth.  Right now she still loves me as Adam.  She even came to Eternia to see Adam.  And now you want me to have her hate both my identities?" asked Adam.  He could just imagine the horror she would show at finding out he was a killer.

"Exactly Adam, she came here to talk to you.  If she thinks you're dead, it'll tear at her for the rest of her life.  Both of you can get through whatever you've done and what you've become.  It won't be easy, but I believe one day she'll forgive you.  Maybe it'll take years, but it'll happen," said Duncan.  Years… it would take that long before Teela would forgive what he did.  But if there's one thing you learn being chained for four years, it was to be patient.  He could be patient.

"Ok Duncan, but do you really think she could forgive me for what I am now," said Adam.  As he spoke he stared at Duncan with cold, dead eyes.  He learned a long time ago to not only control his emotions, but also kill them.  To in way, simply stop that part of him that cared and loved from existing.  It was a self-defense mechanism his mind developed to ignore the emotional pain that Skeletor inflicted on him.  And it worked perfectly when the time had come to kill Skeletor and his minions.

He felt no regret as he killed them.  The only regret he felt now was that it was hurting his relationship with Teela.  He still believed though that it was the correct action.  That in the end they had to die no matter what the consequences.

Duncan shivered when those dead eyes stared at him, but held his ground.  He met Adam's gaze with one of his own.

"We have all changed Adam and we're still changing.  Maybe one day you'll become the old Adam that Teela cared about.  All I know for sure is that permanently taking away Adam from her isn't the answer," said Duncan.  Adam closed his eyes and sighed.  He doubted he could ever be the old, innocent Adam he once was.  But maybe he could become someone that would be considered at least human.  Someone that Teela could learn to be friends with.

"Alright…  Give me some time alone with her," said Adam as he walked towards Teela's room.

"Adam!"

Adam turned to Duncan who shifted from foot to foot nervously.

"Could you not tell her that I knew of your secret identity?  She might become angry with me even hate me and I couldn't take that.  I nee-"

"Don't worry Duncan.  She'll never find out from me," said Adam before he began walking again towards Teela's room.  No need for her to hate both of them.

When he walked in Teela was still sitting on the bed.  She raised her head and her green eyes widened.  Then her cheeks began to blush as she quickly turned her face away. 

"He-Man why are you walking into my room naked!" growled Teela as she shut her eyes.  Adam couldn't stop himself from grinning.  Four years ago the thought of being naked in front of Teela would have sent him running in embarrassment.  Now though he couldn't stop himself from feeling a bit of pride at displaying his body in front of her.  He knew he was an impressive sight to look upon.  Adam was scrawny no more.

"Well why don't you give me the blanket on your bed so I can cover myself up," said Adam.  Teela quickly stood up and grabbed her blanket with her eyes still closed.

"Fine, here!" said Teela as she thrust the blanket towards his general direction.  Adam took it and tied it around his waist.  After a minute Teela slowly opened one eye to peek at him.  Adam found it rather cute.  Once she saw he was covered, she opened both eyes.

"Why did you come back?" asked Teela.  She was still blushing and refused to look him in the eyes.  Adam forgot his humor as he prepared himself for what he had to say.

"Teela… I want you to look at my face," said Adam.

"He-Man I do-"

She didn't get a chance to finish before Adam walked up to her and cupped her face in his large hands.  He gently raised her face to his and finally her eyes met his.  Her emerald green eyes appeared surprised, but soon it was replace with anger.  The fire Adam saw in those eyes tempted him to lean down and kiss her.  He felt a strong urge to try to tame that fire he saw.  To try to break through her defiant will and make her his.  He suppressed those urges though and tried to keep focused.

"Teela have you ever noticed how me and Adam have the same blue eyes?  How he has blonde hair and I have blonde hair?  How we both have tan skin?  How Adam was always gone when I arrived?" asked Adam.  The questions at first seemed to confuse her, but then he saw realization slowly slip onto her face.  She almost had the answer, now was the time to tell her and change everything.

"Teela… I'm Adam.  I and He-Man are the same," whispered Adam.

Silence filled the room as Adam waited for a response.  

Five minutes passed with Teela not moving a muscle…

Ten minutes passed with Teela still frozen…

"Teela?  Did you hear me?" asked Adam with concern.  He expected anger, outrage, and maybe even crying.  He didn't expect the news to turn her into a statue.

"I need to sit down," said Teela.  Her voice was so faint you could barely hear it.

"Teela you are sitting down."

"Oh… then I need to lay down," said Teela as she pulled herself out of Adam's grasp.  Slowly she lowered herself to lay her head on a pillow.  Her eyes never moved away from Adam the whole time.

"How did you become He-Man?" asked Teela.  Adam took a deep breath before speaking.

"Well it all started when my father was kidnapped by Skeletor…"

Adam began his story then, trying to tell her as much as possible.  He left out the part of how Duncan knew his secret identity though.  He talked about how the Sword of Power turned him into He-Man.  He told her why he had to keep it a secret.  Finally he was done.

As Teela heard his story, one thought kept going through her mind.

How could I not see it?  I never saw them together and there were so many clues.

A swarm of feelings and emotions warred within her.  First came guilt at realizing that all those times Adam ran he was actually going to turn into He-Man.  Outrage that her best friend couldn't trust her with this secret.  Horror at realizing that it was Adam who became a killer.  In the end it was confusion that totally won out.  She had no idea what to do or how she should react.  It took a few minutes for Teela to realize that Adam had stopped speaking and was waiting for a response.

"Why are you telling me this now?" asked Teela.

"Because you wanted Adam.  You wished for Adam instead of He-Man.  This is the closest I could come to granting that wish.  I'm… different now though.  I'm still that person who killed Skeletor and the others.  I just wanted you to know that I was alive before I left," said Adam.  Then he turned and began walking towards the doorway.

"Stop!  Adam wait!" said Teela as she got up.  She couldn't let him leave.  Not until she could figure out whether she even wanted him to leave.  She wanted him to leave when he was He-Man.  But now everything was different.

Before Adam could react, Teela had her hands on his arm to stop him from moving.

"Teela do you really want anything to do with a man who can kill?  You know I'd it all over again if I needed to.  I'd kill Skeletor, Beastman, and even the mother of…  I'd do it all over again," said Adam.  His blue eyes seem to grow frosty and cold.

"I couldn't forgive He-Man for what he did Adam.  I think maybe because I put so much faith into He-Man being that perfect hero.  That hero who would make everything right without killing a single person.  And.. and that was wrong of me," said Teela.  She had Adam's full attention now.  It was often that she admitted to being wrong.

"After everything you've gone through.. your parents and your friends dying, I can understand why you'd do it.  I almost did it myself Adam.  Back in Tri-clops lab I found a gas bomb and I thought of setting it in the lab.  Setting it there so it would hopefully kill Tri-clops," said Teela while feeling that guilt again.

"You wouldn't have," said Adam with absolutely conviction.  It was funny that Teela had her hands still on his arm and didn't seem the least bit disturbed that he was naked anymore.

"Really?  I had that urge after being here for little over a week.  What if I had been here the four years while Skeletor ruled?  Can you say I wouldn't have done it?" asked Teela.  Adam didn't respond, but Teela could see the answer in his face.  They both knew what this hellish Eternia could do to a person.  Teela took a deep breath before continuing.  It was time to tell Adam what she truly wanted to say.  What she wanted to say since she first stepped onto Eternia.

"My point is that I don't want you to go.  And I'm sorry Adam for leaving you when you needed me most.  I promised to be your bodyguard and I failed in absolutely every way possible.  I ran after one mistake and now you su-hmph!"

The speed at which he had his arms around her was almost inhuman.  Before she had time to react he had pulled her close to his naked body and smothered her lips with his own.  By the time she realized what was happening, his passionate kisses were becoming insistent as he squeezed her.  Teela didn't try to struggle or protest.  His lips felt nice on her skin and to be quite frank she was too tired to give a damn.  

"Adam…" moaned Teela as Adam began to nibble on her ear.  That moan seemed to stop Adam and make him realize what he was doing.  Reluctantly he let go and Teela honestly wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.           

"Don't ever apologize to me Teela.  If anything I owe you and probably all of Eternia a apology.  It was my failure that caused Eternia to fall, not yours.  But thanks to you we will recover from that failure," said Adam before leaving the room.  Teela touched her lips as she blushed.


End file.
